Avenging Angel
by penpaninuSessh
Summary: Set after the anime series. Jo and Sei have vanished and a heartbroken Meg is left to pick up the pieces of the trail, if there is one.
1. Old Wounds

Author Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to Burst Angel or its characters.

Author Note: The image of a very badass Meg walking off at the end of the tv series held the grand "what happened" scenario with me and my girlfriend. Meg, with a hand gun? Meg, without Jo? What the hell? The manga's loyalty between the two would have it that Jo would have never done what she did to Meg as in the tv series. Hence this story.

Also, I mislike the character of Takane almost to the point of vindictive hate. Hell, the first time she appeared onscreen, I commented something along the lines of "Who's that skank on wheels?" The way they kept handling her as a secondary character made me leery if the writers went a little crazy and decided a romantic rival for Jo would be the best thing going for the plot. Luckily that wasn't the case, but WHY did Jo take Takane to the last battle, and not Meg? I know she didn't want Meg to get hurt or in trouble, blah blah blah, but Jo was always so awesome that she got Meg out every time. The blow to the face was extremely out of character to me. Jo was a lab creation, hence she has a one-track mind… protect her loved ones, the top one being Meg. She had run headlong into certain danger before just to fulfill her singular goal. Considering the type of person she is, this is a profound statement of love.

Jo may not even understand what the word is, but had protected Meg at all costs. Until the WTF moment. Sorry, but had to mention. Onto Meg and the outcasts!

"Avenging Angel" chapter one

"Old Wounds"

It was well over six months before Meg caught a clue to Jo's location.

And it had taken a lot of work. Meg had been knocked out before the fight at RAPT, and inexplicably cast aside in the process. At least this was how the barbs to her heart felt. Meg had walked back into Tokyo wearing Jo's tired red coat, looking for her, and then clues to her whereabouts.

'My girlfriend left me behind and all I got was this dumb scarf,' Meg thought darkly. The cynicism would have once scared her. Her small fingers traced the edge of the yellow scarf she had found, tied up at the demolished RAPT building like a banner of victory, or at least a marker of identification. Her coat and scarf… the two major identifiers of Jo. It could have been a kind gift for doing to her what she had… Or…

Meg's fist clenched over the holster at her side. A huge red colt .45 rode with her there, loyal if Jo was not.

'First she told me to leave… then she knocked me out when I wouldn't!' Meg still hadn't forgiven Jo for that, yet she still cried herself to sleep at night, and wore her coat and scarf. They had been part of Jo's personal look and identity for years, yet not more so than her guns. If either of them had been left behind, then Meg would have known for sure Jo was lost for good.

She had to still be alive. She hadn't found either weapon yet.

And So Meg had carried on, slowly and surely. She could not find Sei but DID manage to find Leo, and then the trailer. A distraught and uncharacteristically Amy had been pounding away at her computer that showed a feed of endless static when the two made their way inside the mammoth trailer.

The girl had been crying, long tracks of still wet tears staining her cheeks, when the door to her room was opened. "Sei? Jo?" She had called, before noticing Leo and Meg. Then she had well and truly begun to wail, Leo taking her into his arms. Meg had stroked the girl's long hair, her insides shredding, the three of them, the cast asides of their loved ones.

It was now over six months. They used the trailer to drive around Tokyo, to search for any clue to Jo and Sei. Leo, being a mechanic, and Meg, having been with just Jo, had no tie-ins to the Bai Lan syndicate. They had no idea how to find any representative of the gang, and so the going was long, arduous, and more than a little depressing. To earn money, they did go-to work for the military if a strange creature or robot appeared, nothing long-term or serious, but they did have to eat and buy fuel for the trailer.

It was hard, but Meg had gotten better at her marksmanship, opting for a sleek handgun painted as red as her hair. And since she was a girly-looking girl, most drug lords didn't take her very seriously, which turned out in her favor each time. At first Meg had been terrified going into danger without Jo. At least when she was a kid, she had her gang of friends as well. Anyone was better than one. Meg had to turn herself off to get the job done, and afterward, would seek out Jango's compartment, and sit beside the large mecha. Never in the cockpit however…. That was Jo's place.

Meg was in Jango's storage compartment now, walking slowly around a mammoth steel leg, her fingers tracing the extension of Jo longingly, reaching… dreaming… of days past when she would run her fingers through Jo's hair as she slept.

"You miss her too, I bet," she murmured, looking up at the robotic giant. Jango sat, implacable, and unmoving; worse of all, silent to her inner pleas. "Jo would ride you rough, but you always got her home in the end."

Jango had been waxed to a shiny gleam recently; Meg knew when she wasn't moping in here, Leo was, polishing the days his creation saw action. But most of all, he missed the pilot he used to berate for Jango's hard use. Meg retracted her fingers and settled one hand on the pommel of the gun in her holster. Carefully, she picked her way around Jango to exit the compartment.

Meg made her way back to the kitchen and dining area, her somber eyes following the random pictures tacked up on the walls over the years. She and Amy had taken a wide array of unprofessional group portrayals for months and different views of Jo and Sei (or Jo with Meg herself) littered the walls. There were a couple of Amy, of course, when she had demanded her picture be taken for the wall too. Jo always looked so distant…

Meg's fingers traced the puncture holes in the wall where a picture had been pulled off. Sighing, the red-haired girl opened the fridge and slowly pushed around half-eaten containers of take-out food. With Kyohei abroad and utterly inaccessible, the trio had fallen back on buying meals from restaurant take-out, and the obligatory supply of junk food. A Styrofoam box of stir fry looked way past its mark of expiration and Meg wrinkled her nose.

"Uhn… ah, fuck!" the girl cursed as the box fell apart in her hands, spilling noodles and vegetables all over her red boots. "You have GOT to kidding me!"

"Hey, that last box of pocky had my name all over it," Meg offered, strolling into the kitchen. She had an armful of empty soda and juice bottles which she sat importantly on the only empty part of the countertop. Other bottles lined the distant surface areas. Meg sighed and went to sweep up the mess.

"I mean THIS… what are we gonna do for dinner today, anyway?"

"We could get take-out AGAIN. Or eat that last can of pumpkin filling. Guess which one I'm leaning for?" Amy tried to grin, but it was devoid of her usual cheekiness.

"Brat," Meg commented, tapping her boot on the catch of the garbage can; also without the usual cheekiness. The lid sprang up and in went the mess.

"Skank," Amy gave back. She crawled on her hands and knees, reaching in the back of a lower cupboard. She came back with a bag of shrimp chips and snapped the bag open with a hearty tear.

"Where's Leo?" Meg asked, popping open a can of green tea. Their caffeine supply was running definitely low. It was the second to last can, after all.

"Crying himself to sleep again. He never goes to fiddle with Jango when you're in there," Amy commented. She munched on a handful of chips noisily. Meg sighed and went to Sei's bedroom and rapped hard on the door.

It was strange he chose that room to camp out in, but go figure. Meg had seen the looks Leo had given Sei when he thought no one was looking, and it was no surprise he had chosen her now vacant room to crash out in. The bearded mechanic held a torch for a woman gone missing, much the same as her.

Much the same as her. Meg couldn't find it in her to fault him in the least.

A muffled groan sounded through the door and a crash. Leo must have fallen out of the bed.

"WHAT?" he yelled, rather unnecessarily.

"We got a job tonight or what? Someone REALLY should be getting dinner, too," Meg announced with as much bitchiness as could be displayed as authority would warrant.

Grumble, grumble, shuffle.

"Yeah, we got something! Hold on…" the door slid open with a pop and a disheveled, unshaven Leo glowered down at Meg. The teen stared up into his half-awake grimace.

"The police called. They want help with a transport of some fancy microchip to some CEO," Leo rubbed at an eye with one fist and held up a crumpled print-out with the other. Meg snatched the print-out, glossing over the cartoony avatars Amy had decorated the corners with.

"Great, I can be there in an hour," Meg folded the crisp paper and tucked it into the top of her boot. "Any suggestions for dinner while I'm at it?"

"Pizza. I was dreaming I was swimming in a giant pizza with Sei-san on top," Leo began drooling; whether it was for pizza or Sei, Meg couldn't tell. She clapped the drowsy mechanic on the shoulder.

"Tell Sei to keep the tomato sauce off her knockers," Meg suggested and walked off to her bedroom. She needed to get some extra ammunition, in case the outcome went against her. She was becoming a crack shot of late that she came back with nearly all her rounds now, but it never hurt to have 'em.

Meg stopped at the door, her fists balling up. Her and Jo's room. She had shared everything with Jo in here, space, blankets, warmth, embrace. No one out there would have ever seen the way Jo watched her fussing adoration, how calm she looked when asleep or how peaceful when watching a horror movie. No one knew how messy she was, or how thoughtful.

But she was gone.

To think she was doing these simple things without her near… Meg slid the door open and walked in. She had heaped the blankets in a pile on the sole bed; they were in the same jumble she had tossed them. No one had sorted the mess.

No one at all.

Her clothing was set in careful piles around Jo's belongings. Meg swept an eye over the stacks of B-movie dvd's. All Jo's all undisturbed. She would want them back one day… right? She didn't think the white-haired enigmatic girl could live without seeing one horror movie a day…

As Meg swept over to her make-up stand where she stored her ammo, the usual daily question threatened to undo her….

If Jo were alive, would she be doing any of her favorite things? Right now, this very moment..?

Meg pulled her red pistol out of her holster and aimed at herself in the mirror. Cock, bang. You're dead. She hadn't found either of Jo's guns… so she HAD to be alive, somewhere.

She had to be.

Re-holstering her weapon, Meg pocketed her ammo, and made sure her lipstick was on straight. She gave her reflection a mock salute to get into her jaunty business persona and walked across the room to the door. As she slid it open, a single picture propped importantly by her bed caught her eye. It was the sole inhabitant of her bed side table.

In it, she was hugging Jo, forever one. It was the picture taken from the wall of the dining area. Meg had caught Amy studying the empty space on the wall before, and Meg knew Amy had to figure out she had taken it.

But Meg needed it. It was there if Jo was not.

She watched the picture sadly and closed the door behind her. The light went out on the two girls frozen in celluloid.

8

8

8

8

The job was thankfully, a short one. Meg oversaw the transportation of the police's microchip to the head of a famous corporation without obstruction of any kind. She hadn't had to shoot anyone, and better yet, came out looking pretty good in her skintight red outfit.

Meg left the job as quickly as she did these days before the police chief could make an idiot of himself by asking her out.

'Honey, I don't even play that way,' Meg thought, her bleeding heart stretching her along thin. She had pocketed the cash, shaken the chief's hand and high-tailed it out while making it all look casual and all before the mustachioed chief could work up the courage to open his mouth.

Meg walked along, half aware of the lecherous looks men (and quite a few ladies) flashed her way. She knew she should check in with Amy and Leo, should be getting their meal and continue the wayward journey home, but she was out anyways, and nearby….

So her slow footsteps took her towards the old RAPT building. The structure was a smoldering wreck, thanks to Jo's harsh handiwork, and if RAPT had bothered to rebuild figuratively, they hadn't literally for their building remained a burnt-out ruin, taped off from the public.

Which meant if they were still around, the organization had to have gone underground. Much like Bai Lan had to have. Much like Jo and Sei. There was just no other explanation.

Meg sighed glumly, toeing a loose rock from the rubble outside. Sei had come off as very straight and very uninterested, but still…. She had better not be going after Jo.

It was so an un-Sei thing to contemplate that Meg's thoughts were dull instead of vindictive. She sidestepped the tape and carefully made her way upstairs. A large conference hall had been blown wide open (more than likely by Jango) and a loose wind stirred the edges of Meg's scarf. She ducked her face into the folds and tried to smell Jo.

Meg had picked through these ruins as often as she could, hoping to find some clue, anything, to point her to Jo's trail. Her scarf had been found sure, whether as a banner of victory or grave marker, Meg couldn't say.

It was so unlike Jo, it gave her an uneasy feeling. That and a sick stomach. A scarf instead of coming home? A blow instead of companionship? Did Jo even WANT to be found?

Did Jo not… need her anymore?

'I fight for you,' Jo's low murmur echoed in her mind and Meg scrubbed tears from her eyes fiercely. If she didn't fight for her now, then who did she fight for?

The rough scrape of boot against rock alerted Meg suddenly. She brought her red pistol out of her holster in one swift movement. Silently, she pulled the hammer back and scanned the hall. Someone was here…. Someone that didn't want to be found. RAPT? Why would they still be nosing around this place? A million ideas surged through Meg's mind as she stilled her breathing, though her heart was pacing quickly.

The person Meg saw making their way around the fallen pillars and rubble was truly one she had not been expecting. Dark brown hair cascaded in twin ponytails; a jaunty schoolgirl-type fuku covered the spry fit body. She wore knee high boots, the better to running into trouble with.

And a katana hung from a scabbard around her back, too long to be worn at her side.

Takane, daughter of Osaka's Chief of Police and head of the special ops biker division. Meg's blood curdled and her hand tremored. What was SHE doing here? Did she know anything about Jo and Sei's disappearance? Did she have anything to do with them still?

Jo had refused her to come to the battle, but that Takane ho had been waiting, like a dog ready to jump at a bared scrap of food. And Jo had let her come! Just her! Her and not Meg…

Takane all but jumped out of her skin when Meg boldly walked out of the shadows. When she recognized the woman, she didn't relax completely either. Meg's eyes clouded. Something was up alright.

"Damn, girl, ya'll near gave me a heart attack!" Takane twanged, pressing a hand over her chest to prove it.

Meg didn't lower her pistol.

"Funny running into you here. Why ARE you here?" she asked coldly. The wary smile snapped from Takane's face. The lovelorn redhead was a sweetheart no longer.

'Being abandoned by her girlfriend must have toughened her up some,' Takane thought. However, she couldn't let anyone outside know her operative…

"I could ask the same of you. This has to be way out of your way," Takane gave back wryly. She kept a steady eye trained on the barrel pointed at her, although her stance was relaxed.

Meg held her ground. "Not more out of the way than Osaka. You have no reason for being here. Unless…"

"Unless…" Takane's foot shifted slightly to the left. Meg fired.

The bullet hit the wall beside Takane's face. The woman froze, watching Meg out of the corner of her eye. She stopped all movement.

"Don't give me that shit. You know where Jo is! And Sei… You know where they are! Don't you?" Meg's gun shook in her hands. She lowered the barrel towards Takane's chest. "Don't you?"

"Meg, I don't know…"

Meg fired again, at the other side of Takane's face. "Don't give me that! You were there! You know what happened! And if I were you, I'd start talking!" Meg ordered. Takane raised her hands slowly and exhaled audibly.

"I can't tell you… not even you. I wish I could help you, but I can't," the Osaka woman said quietly. It was meant to be soothing, to be reassuring… heavens knew, the girl needed that at least.

But it was not what Meg wanted to hear. She sprang forward suddenly and cold-clocked Takane upside the head with the butt of her pistol. Takane yelled suddenly in shocked pain and fell bodily to the floor. She lay on her side holding her head, when one of her hands was yanked back. A snap of metal enclosing her wrist caught her hazy attention.

"What are you…"

"I've waited a long time to find out," Meg growled, pulling the stunned woman to her feet. "And you're gonna tell me where Jo and Sei are."

"Wait, Meg! You don't understand…" Takane watched in dismay as the redheaded girl unfastened the strap to her katana from around her middle and let the weapon fall heedless to the ground. "My sword!"

Meg ignored her and cracked open her wrist communicator. "Meg to base, hurry up and answer!"

Leo popped up instead of Amy, sounding more awake. "Bout time you finished, girl! Did you get our pizza yet?"

Meg cursed and yanked Takane's handcuffed wrists. "Forget the damned pizza! I need you to drive out and get me… you got the location?"

"But we need dinner!" Leo protested, but she heard clicking in the background. "Okay, moving base out to get you… why couldn't you just walk back?"

"Because, Leo…" Meg yanked Takane closer. The woman winced as her hands rode up her back, trapped by handcuffs. "I might have found a clue to Jo and Sei."

Leo yelped and Meg heard him revving the trailer's gas pedal. "I'm on the way!"

End for now

No I have no idea what the Osaka biker division is called, so it's called just that :P Whee!

1/9/11


	2. Interrogation and Answers

Author Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Burst Angel, and neither does my girlfriend.

Author's Note: And onward, brave souls!

"Avenging Angel" chapter two

"Interrogation and Answers"

When Leo pulled the massive trailer up outside the RAPT building, Meg was more than a little impatient. Takane had been trying to talk to her, make her see the side of reason…. Mainly so she could be un-handcuffed, Meg was sure. She had yanked the woman's cuffed wrists high up her back each time, and ordered her to shut up.

The red-head was stressed and ready to explode at the next word past the southerner's lips. By the time Leo had parked and clambered out of the trailer's main door, she was ready to unleash said stress directly at him.

"Hey, it's Takane…" Leo made to say when Meg shoved the woman at him. Leo caught her mainly on instinct. "What the hell, Meg?"

"We're taking her with us, Leo," Meg ordered, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. Takane looked up under her dark bangs.

"Could you bring my sword along at LEAST?"

Meg sighed and toed the sheathe up. One hand grabbed the enameled covering in a quick snap. "Fine, let's go!"

Amy peeked out of her room curiously as Takane was marched past. The young girl slid out and peered up at the bound Osakan woman.

"Hey, weren't you there to go along with Jo and Sei at the end?" she inquired darkly. Meg, her arms crossed under her breasts, nodded. One finger tapped her forearm.

"And you said there'd be nothing at that old RAPT building. How about that?"

Amy shrugged and went to find a can of soda. Finding the fridge devoid of a supply of caffeine, the tech girl cursed and slammed the door. "Alright, I'm out of caffeine and in a bad mood. Let's pick her brain already!"

Meg gave a low smirk. "You finally said something that makes sense, kid."

"What'd you say?"

"Come on, ladies," Leo spoke up, pushing Takane gently to sit at the table. "We shouldn't be arguing amongst ourselves."

"I still think ya'll made a poor decision taking me. I haven't done a thing wrong, and I can't really help yeu," Takane spoke up.

Meg shook her head softly. She then lifted a gloved hand and swiped at Takane's head. The blow hit in a neat backhand that left Leo and Amy staring in awe. Amy grinned in the next instant, well and truly pleased.

"Well that's one way of getting the info," she chimed. "Do it again."

Takane spat blood and gazed up at Meg in disbelief as she hauled her up to face level by the collar. "Girl, you'd best calm yourself…."

"Shut up!" Meg shook her back and forth. "You go off with Jo and no one can find her or Sei, and you're all we can locate? Where are they? What happened?"

Takane's eyes drifted from Meg's angry visage to the yellow scarf double swathed around her neck. Jo's scarf… but she had promised!

"They're okay… that's all I can tell you!"

Amy's eyes filled with tears and Leo's heavy hand fell onto her shoulder. But Meg would not be satisfied with a scrap of the knowledge she sought and desperately needed.

"Where? Tell me!" Meg slammed Takane back into the booth, knocking her head back against the wall. She had to know! She needed to feel Jo's warmth again, needed to feel her beside her in the darkness…. Her dreams wouldn't take her to anyplace soft or warm…

She had to know or she would lose her mind.

Takane tried to sit up; it was a struggle to maintain any sense of composure. "I can't tell yeu… I wish I could, Meg, but I promised…"

Meg's eyes welled with tears and she dropped the woman. Leo laid his hands gently on her shoulders as she stared straight ahead, seeing her own demons.

"Meg…" he said, but there was nothing he could say to take away the pain. What Takane said made it sound like Jo and Sei didn't WANT to be found.

Meg growled and yanked Takane forward. The woman had a resigned dogged expression on her face as she was dragged onto the floor and across the room. "You're gonna tell me where they are, and you're gonna do it now!"

"Hang on, I got some chains," Amy chimed in, and dashed off to her room. Leo looked from her to Meg's twisted angry face and held up both palms.

"What are you doing?..."

"Just help me chain this heifer up!" Meg growled. Amy trotted back out with a length of chain topped by manacles. Leo had a sudden insight to ask WHY Amy would have such an item, but opted to let the question slide.

"Here ya go…hey, lemme help!" Amy insisted. Meg allowed the young girl to run the chain around the handcuffs already in place and manacle the whole spectacle together. When she was done, Takane looked like a metal ribbon on a sadist's birthday present. "Done!"

Meg raised an eyebrow. "Done this before much?"

"Bite me," Amy replied. Leo blushed and looked away. He didn't find Takane attractive in the least, but the way the chains squished the sides of her breasts gave him a sudden flash impulse of Sei, bound and helpless, in his mind's eye. She was wearing the skimpy swimsuit she had worn at the beach resort, and her breasts were all but hanging out of the barely-there attire which altogether accentuated her more than abundant assets.

"I'm… gonna leave the room!" Leo said lamely. Amy shrugged, as if to say "Men" before Meg tilted Takane's face up.

"Meg, let me go. I haven't done anything ta yeu," the older woman said. Meg jerked the chains, making Amy giggle. She had done a bang-up job on them, after all. "Damn…"

"Ain't no use trying to break out. Go on, Meg, beat her ass," Amy urged. Meg cracked her knuckles.

From then on, it was a royal mess. After about twenty minutes of backhanding torture, Meg took a break. She inhaled deeply after lighting up as Amy peered down into Takane's bloodied face. The police woman spat and dark blood dotted the floor. Amy poked her in the cheek and Takane turned her face away.

"Stop that…" she murmured. Amy shrugged and plopped down next to Meg.

"Those things'll kill you, you know," she commented. "You should have taken up another vice."

Meg turned and exhaled a long stream of smoke in Amy's direction. "What do you know, kid?"

Amy coughed and waved the smoke away. "It's not really sexy, is all I'm sayin'…"

Takane worked her tongue in the side of her mouth and spat a tooth out. "You weren't like this before, girl. You used to be nice."

"Yeah, well, abandonment issues'll do that to you," Meg shrugged offhand, but Amy knew she was being truthful. Meg's gloved hand brought her cigarette back up to her mouth and ruby red lips inhaled delicately.

"I know how much Jo means to yeu… I know, cause she can't sleep easy. Just like you can't either, I bet," Takane said. Meg flicked her blue eyes toward the battered woman, her gaze narrowing.

"And how would you know how she sleeps?" Cold jealousy clawed Meg's breast. Amy watched her worriedly as the older girl stood, the hem of her red outfit flaring. Takane met Meg's gaze squarely as the younger woman grabbed her by the collar again and pulled her close enough to kiss. Takane smiled grimly.

"I promised not ta tell anyone where they were, for their protection, AND your own. I know ya don't believe me, but there is heavy shit going on with Sei-san's faction. She made me promise not to tell anyone, because she knew you would come charging in. I promised. Can't ya see that?" Takane pleaded.

"Screw for our protection," Meg fumed. "Sei should know better. Who does she think she is keeping Jo tied off for her own use? We need her too! I need her…"

Amy's brow furrowed and she looked her young years. "Didn't Sei trust we could help her at all? What gives?"

"She's in a lot of hell," Takane grimaced as one eye closed against the pain. The puffed bruises were beginning to well the lids shut. "They couldn't just come back, like normal, everything went down at once and she has to attend to the pieces. She had to make a decision, and she made it. I'm sorry…."

"You're gonna be more sorry than you think," Meg finished, grounding out her cigarette and flicking the butt toward a full ashtray across the room. Her gloved hand raised high and trembled as rage governed her body. "If what you've said is true, it's a sad excuse for them leaving us!"

Amy nodded, her eyes grim. "She's not gonna help us. Go on, Meg, let her have it." The girl began to walk off to her room as Meg wound up.

"Who said I won't tell yeu?" Takane gave out. Meg's hand froze in midair.

"What, had enough? Some cop," Meg taunted. Takane smiled sadly.

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but you're not just anyone. You love Jo. And she needs you. I can see it whenever she stares off when she thinks no one is looking. And she can't sleep unless heavily sedated. Sei's worried about her, and so am I. So, fuck the Bai Lan, I'll tell you where they are…"

Meg's trembling hands fished out a cigarette and lit up as Takane began to spill. Amy ran screaming for Leo and the pair came back for the rest of the story. The mechanic looked so hopeful, that Meg's heart sank.

Even when they got to Sei's secret hideaway, would she let them in? They wouldn't know until they got there, to the moment of truth. Meg swallowed her fear and doubt and tried to be brave for her friends.

"You heard her. Takane's got the location, so let's head out," Meg ordered. Amy cheered and Leo pumped his fist into the air.

"Alright!"

End for now

End note: It's gonna get interesting now! I kinda like how this story is writing itself in some ways, whereas in others, it's being a real bitch. Oh, and I don't smoke at all, so I'm making it look sexier with Meg than it should in real life.

Penpaninu

2/4/11


	3. Reunited?

Author Disclaimer: I own nothing belonging to Burst Angel, nothing at all; least of all not the opening animation to the Infinity OVA.

Author's Note: This was easier to write, even though I have no idea how the mechanics for an underground gang base would work. It was fun to slip into Sei for a bit and see how she operates.

"Avenging Angel" chapter three

"…Reunited?"

Meg leaned against her motorcycle and dragged hard on a cigarette. The landscape was desolate and open and she had opted to stop her bike in the middle of the highway to calm her nerves. The nicotine was helping, but she was still nervous. Leo was bringing up the rear in the trailer, but she had gained quite the lead on her supped up chopper; no part in thanks to their loyal mechanic.

Meg's blue eyes scanned the flat landscape coolly as one gloved finger traced the handlebars. Leo had put the bike together in hopes of raising her depressed spirits; not to mention to get her to set foot outside the trailer. She could still remember the day Leo had presented her with her new ride…

"Come on, Meg, you've got to set foot in the real world! And this baby's gonna take you in style," Leo had grinned. Meg, clad in baggy pajamas and slippers, wasn't buying.

"A motorcycle? Are you kidding? Leo, that's not me! And we have enough money right now as it is, so leave me alone already!" Meg had crossed her arms, refusing to step down out of the trailer's main door.

The bearded mechanic had bodily picked her up, carried her outside, and set her on the bike's seat. "Come on, girl, we need to take more jobs, and you'll look like a total badass when you do. Give 'er a try… you may even like it," Leo had urged.

Meg had to admit, her first ride HAD perked her up (even if she had gotten stares for riding in her striped pajamas.) Even now, the experience of humming metal between her legs had soothed her tension. Meg finished her smoke and leaned up, catching sight of a vehicle on the horizon. Leo was finally catching up.

She flicked her cigarette away and swung a lean leg over the seat of the motorcycle. She revved up as the trailer advanced on her. Pulling her goggles down, Meg peeled rubber. Side by side, the two vehicles took off down the highway.

"Damn, you got way ahead of us. I sure did a good job on that bike, Meg," Leo said through her wrist communicator. Meg grinned.

"Ya sure did, Leo. How much farther is it?"

"A few more kilometers. " This from Takane. "When we get there, I'll have to do all the talkin'."

"Just get us in there," Meg said grimly.

'And then we'll see where we're at…'

A few kilometers as promised, Takane called a halt. Leo parked in the sand beside the highway and Meg pulled up beside the massive trailer. Leo and Takane walked down the steps toward the waiting redhead. Amy framed the doorway above them. Twin pigtails flowed around the small figure, caught in the hot desert wind.

"You'd better bring 'em back," she called. The door closed and Amy disappeared.

Leo scanned the landscape, confusion darkening his gaze. There was nothing to see, nothing at all. "This some kind of trick, Takane?"

"It had better not be," Meg gave lowly. The urge for a cigarette was never so high.

Takane looked around and her dark eyes lit up at a glint in the sand. "That's it! Come on…"

Leo and Meg shrugged at each other, trying to appear casual; but they knew they weren't fooling anybody. They were sick unto death with nervousness at what they might find. Sei and Jo had hidden themselves too well. They might not have wanted to be found.

Takane knelt in the sand and dug around. The sun reflected off a spot of metal and more was revealed as the policewoman brushed sand aside. A communicator station sat half embedded in the ground and Takane punched codes in while Meg and Leo watched.

A portal tube popped up in the sand a few feet away. Leo started in surprise but Meg was starting to catch on. The desolate landscape was starting to make a whole lot of sense. There had to be a secret location underground here. Way underground. The sand had to be a cover for an entire base.

Takane scanned in and led the two inside a metal passageway. The angle went down and slowly became more level. It was dark and cool and Meg surmised they had to be beneath the sand now.

"So is this Bai Lan's property?" Leo murmured. Takane nodded, her puffed eyes taking in the metal tube.

"All of this belongs to Bai Lan. When it all went down with RAPT, Sei-san's grandfather hid her here with his contingent forces. It's like a reg'lar military base down here."

Meg pressed her lips together, her lips thumping hard. Any harder and it might very well leap out of her breast and onto the floor. Her down trod organ thudded dully to feel boot prints upon it…

"Is she and… "Leo began to say when Takane watched them over her shoulder.

"You'll just have to see. I know Sei's not going to be pleased with me outing her location."

As if on cue, a line of armed Bai Lan soldiers formed up before the trio, rifles cocked and raised.

"Halt or we'll shoot!"

"Hey now, it's just me! Didn't you read my scan in code?" Takane raised her hands. One of the soldiers peered closer at her.

"Katsu Takane-san… who are they, then?"

"No outsiders; our orders are clear," another soldier aimed his rifle at Meg and Leo.

Just as fast, both drew a side arm as fluently, and held a soldier in their sights. Takane looked between the pair of armed men (and women) and groaned.

"Hold it right there, I'm takin' 'em in to see Sei-san! Yeu'll have ta take it up with HER why anyone's roughed up!"Takane gave.

Meg waved her gun, a fierce glint in her eye. "Or you'll have to explain why her guards got shot…"

"Damn straight," Leo seconded, grinning behind his raised piece. A cascade of clicks were heard as safety buttons were pressed off and hammers clicked back.

Takane groaned. Nobody was backing off.

"Must I see to everything myself or can I not have one moment's rest?" a familiar voice called out. Leo gulped, his face reddening. A voluptuous figure slowly walked out of the shadows and made her way toward them. Leo's hand shook and he lowered his weapon.

"Sei…"

At the sight of their leader, the Bai Lan soldiers lowered their rifles and bowed their heads in respect. Sei looked a shade of her former self. Her black hair was magnificently pinned up and her clothes were expensively unexpansive (showing a good portion of her navel and cleavage as usual) but no amount of primping or make-up could hide the shadows under her eyes. A light cast encased her right wrist and her left hand clasped the head of a cane.

Before Leo could ask why, Sei moved closer. Her limping gait told volumes of the extent of her past injuries and although she may have been on the road to recovery, the going was still arduous indeed.

"Sei.." Meg said, her eyes softening with worry. If she came out this messed up, she wondered how Jo…

"So you two found me. I'd say good job, but I imagine Takane had a lot to do with it," Sei leveled a look at the Osakan woman. The policewoman adopted a look ripe with contrition and bowed slightly.

"Meg was very persuasive. An hell, Sei, ya'll were family. I couldn't keep them away," Takane said grimly. Sei noted the bruises and puffed lips framing Takane's face and raised an eyebrow at Meg.

"You've gotten harder," she noted. Meg's eyes narrowed and she holstered her hand gun.

"I kind of had to. Somebody up and left," the redhead retorted, sounding for all intents and purposes, like a cranky five year old.

Leo looked from one to the other and holstered his weapon as well. "Sei…we missed you. We couldn't just stop looking," he said quietly. The Chinese woman looked up into his bearded visage and her eyes softened.

"I am truly sorry for abandoning all of you. There is still so much for me to do, and we had to stay hidden to do it. For that, I apologize."

"Just save it for Amy. She's top-side waiting," Meg retorted as Sei led the three farther into the base. Her eyes nervously scanned the different people milling about. She couldn't find a hint of white hair anywhere…

Sei leaned on her cane and watched Meg with a resolute look on her face. "Takane, could you show Meg where Jo's room is, please? I'd like to rest for a moment," Sei explained.

Leo looked down at her, his eyes concerned. "I'll stay with you," he offered. Sei smiled genuinely.

"Yes, I'd like that very much…"

"Right, ma'am," Takane said and turned to Meg. "Ready, Blue eyes?"

"Just shut up and lead on," Meg grumbled. Takane shrugged and wound through a few snaking corridors and stopped at a row of doors. She stopped at the second one and gestured.

"Jo's in there. She must be resting… but she always seems to be doing that," Takane trailed off. Meg froze, her eyes glazing as she tried to catch her breath. Jo was inside this room, just on the other side of this door…

For once, she didn't order Takane to shut up. The police woman gracefully bowed out and left Meg to enter on her own. Meg's gloved hand lifted and shook, settled over the knob and froze. Her breathe came in and out harshly and she wondered if she'd lose consciousness.

Holding her breath, Meg turned the knob and walked into the room. It was dark inside. One lone track of weak light beamed from a small lamp on the tiled floor, reflecting a huddled figure sprawled half despondent in reflection.

As Meg's eyes got used to the gloom, she made out the thin limbs of a sullen warrior draped over on herself as she stared into space. Jo's white hair was so oily it looked a shade darker. Expensive toiletries and clothing occupied a dresser top, but Meg wondered how long it had been since she had bathed.

Or changed. Jo was clad in only an oversized t-shirt and panties. Her feet were bare and if she was cold against the tiles, she did not reach for the blankets folded neatly on the bed beside her. Red eyes stared into nothing and Meg's heart seized. Jo was a mess. She couldn't have wanted to leave her… and yet…

Meg walked closer to the down trod warrior and stopped a foot away. Her hands shook inside her gloves. Jo hadn't even seen her… would she?... respond in any way?

"Jo?..." she whispered. Red eyes widened and scanned towards her face. Meg's heart leaped at the confusion and longing warring in those ruby orbs and Jo reached a hand upward, her fingers groping. For her, she was trying to reach her… as she always had…

"MEG?..." One word only, her name, and the syllable conveyed a world of aching want. Meg clawed a glove off and dropped it, heedless, to the floor. Her bare fingers fit into the groove of Jo's calloused digits. Once their warm hands locked, relief pooled through Jo's taciturn expression.

Not many people would have been able to read anything from Jo's looks other than anger, or just plain nothing, but no one had been with Jo as long as Meg had. She didn't give much away, but "Oh my god" seemed to be the expression pooling in her eyes.

Meg stroked her other hand across Jo's cheek and the exhausted warrior closed the gap across them; she fell forward into Meg's lap, relief palpably giving way to blessed sleep. Meg tightened her arms around Jo's shoulders and cried silently. Finally, Jo could sleep…

…and so could she, once she stopped crying and they figured out what was going to happen.

Takane peered into the room, noting how Meg had relaxed Jo enough so she could finally rest. Without the usual elephant-dose of sedatives to help.

'She needed her. From the looks of it, they needed each other,' Takane thought. She gently closed the door on Meg's quiet sobs and walked away down the hall.

End for now.

End note: I imagine Jo wouldn't have a lot to say, but her actions would tell what she's feeling. A lot easier than I thought it could be.

Penpaninu

2/9/11


	4. The Way things were?

Author Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Burst Angel.

Author's Note: The feelings extend and the feelings remain. I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible for Meg, so hence the angst. Put up with me for awhile, please.

"Avenging Angel" chapter four

"The way things were?..."

Meg waited outside the bathroom, listening to the shower run. Jo was in there, scrubbing down after her long hiatus. The redhead was still nervous, even though all of Jo's movements were second nature to her. The white-haired girl had seemed genuinely pleased she hadn't dreamed her and had gone willingly into a suggested shower.

Meg clasped a towel against her cleavage and sighed. Just like so many of Jo's mechanisms, apology was not in her vocabulary.

'Then again, Jo may not even know she had done anything wrong,' Meg thought. Her mood darkened suddenly. While she longed to just wrap her arms around the thinner girl again, there was a lot of owning up to do.

And the bad feeling of how they had parted would not just leave her. The shower stopped and wet footsteps padded across the tiles. Meg stiffened, her fingers tightening on the towel. A simple hug wouldn't fix everything. Not this time.

The door opened and Jo was there, damp and naked, dripping a puddle onto the floor. Meg's eyes scanned the small breasts and toned stomach before she could help it.

"Towel?" Jo asked simply as always and Meg smiled weakly, offering the linen. Jo scrubbed her hair viciously a couple of times and barely patted herself down before swathing the towel around her slim waist. Just like usual.

Meg shrugged out of her red coat (Jo's really) and followed her into the saturated bathroom. She unzipped her red top a little, letting more cleavage fall out with the gesture. It WAS rather warm in there. Jo's eyes flicked to the round orbs of flesh momentarily, reflected through the mirror. Meg's mind was quick to note that… she may have been faithful after all.

"What happened here, Jo? Were you okay in Bai Lan?" Meg asked quietly. Jo shrugged into a black tank top, her damp hair spiking out. Turning, she dropped the towel as she walked into the bedroom for a pair of panties. Finding a pair, Jo was covered once more. She turned placidly to Meg, her red eyes seemingly tired. Running a hand through her unruly hair, Jo sighed.

"It's alright. Sei was a real mess after that explosion…"

'But what about you?' Meg dreaded to ask.

"..And she got a lot put upon her. She's basically running the whole show, but for how long…"

It was a lot for the nominally reflective girl. Meg swallowed. "Are you two going to come back?"

'This is the only family I've really known….'

"I don't know," Jo murmured. Her deep red eyes swam into Meg's wide blue. Her arms twitched…. Why wasn't Meg leaning into her as always when she was sad? She was confused. Wasn't Meg glad to see her? She sure had seemed like it before she fell asleep.

Meg tapped a long finger against her red lips. "Then can we sign up?"

It was meant to sound light-hearted, but Jo knew when Meg was putting up a front. She gave a half smile. "It'd be great if you did…"

'Then I could still protect you.'

"Well, then. Let's go talk to Sei," Meg offered a smile on her lips. Jo was so pleased to see it, she was almost fooled. The mounting chasm yawned between them.

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'I told you, we found Sei and Jo!' Amy typed furiously on her laptop.

'Oh my god! Tell Sei I hope she's okay! And Jo!' the chat box pounded back instantly. Amy grinned happily and typed several smiley faces in a row.

'Will do, Kyo! I gotta run. Chat later?'

'Ok!'

Amy shut her laptop and collected her stuffed animal casing. She had been in touch with Kyohei for weeks now, and it was a relief the gentle young man never took it to heart all the shit she had put him through. He seemed genuinely pleased to stay in touch with her, and Amy intended to continue to do just that.

'Just you watch out, Kyohei, you'll be in my reach again one day,' Amy thought, flexing her fingers. She blushed at the thought. She'd be more grown up, and maybe…

The young girl stood in the trailer's doorway, watching Bai Lan agents spill out of the metal tube in the sand. She had gotten the call from Leo to expect this, for they would drive the trailer to a structure tunnel to secure it underground. Amy tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the young men in matching suits to hurry up the ramp.

"Come on, what's the hold up?" she demanded pushily. Leo had sounded so jubilant before, that she knew he'd gotten to Sei. Which meant if these idiots moved it, she would too!

"Hurry it up already!" she insisted. The agents shrugged, and set about to moving toward the driver's console, revving the trailer up. Once below ground, Amy was led by two large agents down a metal tunnel into a plush conference room. The reason why was painted all over Leo's bearded grin. Sei sat waiting in a large chair, her cast resting lightly on the table's edge. She still looked about the same as always, so Amy rushed around the table, her eyes lighting up.

"Sei! You're okay! What happened? Why'd you ditch us, huh?" Amy moved to hug Sei, and noted the stiff way she held herself. Sei smiled bravely but Amy backed off from her hug a little. She had to have been seriously hurt.

"It wasn't my intention to leave you behind. You're part of my team, Amy; you always have been," Sei smiled, stroking Amy's hair. Amy eased into the chair on Sei's other side, noting the dopey way Leo was leaning toward the Chinese woman.

"Lighten up, Leo, she's not going anywhere!" Amy tried to joke, but Leo shrugged stiffly. The words smarted herself, joke or no joke.

Sei turned to Amy, her eyes slitting with her smile. "I should have known you and Meg wouldn't give up on looking."

Amy nodded her eyes serious. "You only took Jo with you; of course we had to keep searching. And let me say it right now, you're never gonna find a tech girl better than me. Bai Lan'd be crazy to have you really break us up."

"They tried to, you know… they all but commanded it," Sei murmured. It had broken her heart to accept those orders from her higher-ups. Looking at a somber Leo beside her, Sei could see the effects those callous decisions had wrought on her group. And she HAD considered them her group, even if the inner power struggles for control of Bai Lan inhibited her from getting them back.

"They couldn't see how well we work together?" Leo asked. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose. Sei shook her head.

"No. To them, people are things they can push around and use. I chose the best team possible… but you all are not things to me."

Amy smiled. "We're friends, Sei. Aren't we?" She left unspoken she saw the older refined woman as more than a friend, or older sister. She was her family, the only one she'd ever known. Sei had come looking for her and saved her from government arrest; had taken her in, financed her needs and looked after her. Sei was more a surrogate mother than she could ever be a friend to her.

Amy knew she could get along fine on her own to a degree, but she found she liked being around the other women (and Leo). Sei mirrored her thoughts, for she stroked Amy's hair again.

"Yes, Amy, we are…"

Leo looked around, his eyes dark with thought. "I still haven't seen Jo… IS she alright?" The mechanic knew Meg would be at her side even now, but the aftereffects of learning of her lab origins, of her body's mechanisms for pure destruction…. And the excess limits Jo had put her body through before the final battle… he wondered how Jo was taking the end results, if she was still her old self… and how Meg was taking it now that they were face to face.

Leo knew at the time, there had been no room for the thought of what-after… they just had to get through then and figure it all out later. And Leo figured they'd have time to get Meg and it'd all be okay. It was another reason Jo may not have wanted to be found. What Meg could find…

From the little Meg spoke of that parting, he knew she had been betrayed by their simple bond. Hitting her like that… that had shocked even him, and he had been there. It wasn't like Jo at all. And then he couldn't even ask her why she'd done it. Meg hadn't put him through too much shit for being there for that, but still… she had pulled him and Amy out the best she could.

So when Sei looked off to the side, Leo and Amy found that to be disturbing, considering the subject matter. "She is… on surface level. She was torn up pretty badly in the explosion and yet… she wouldn't leave me," Sei murmured. She dimly could recall Jo's grunts and howls as she carried their battered bodies away from the wreckage leaving a dented Jango behind.

Leo's eyes clouded. "That's Jo alright. But is she okay NOW?"

Sei enclosed her good hand over her cast. "She's healed faster than anyone has a right to. I've had my agents test her martial prowess, and she's still on mark. The problem is that she's off by a beat. She can still lay the best of my men out flat, and they wouldn't be able to tell otherwise, but I know something's bothering her. It could be one of two things; her body structure has truly hit its limit and she is faltering because of it; or something is troubling her mentally."

Sei made a mental note to talk to Meg alone. She had to find a way to apologize to her.

"It could be that Jo just needs Meg. She's all she's had since the lab," Leo murmured. But Jo had struck Meg… And they'd all left her behind as some annoying afterthought, himself included. The thought still shamed him.

Amy nodded. "Jo acts like a total badass, but she can't function right without Meg. She never relaxes until she's got her back. Just wait, they're probably getting in touch right now."

'Never mind that Meg got captured more than a video game princess," the tech girl thought. She tried not to giggle. Meg had really worked on keeping herself out of trouble lately, so the analogy really wasn't fair anymore.

"Well, Takane took Meg to Jo's room, so they should be together. I hope they're doing okay…" Sei reflected. Leo hesitated then boldly laid his hand over Sei's, making Amy's cheeks puff out.

"It's not your fault, Sei. These events and Jo's origins were not your doing. You've done the best you can."

When Sei looked up to smile at the mechanic, Amy sighed obnoxiously. "You two ought to just get together and get it over with! I give up. Any work you want me to start on, Sei?"

Sei nodded. "My tech crew should fill you in. Now, I want you to show them how it's done."

"And I'll be on my best behavior!" Amy grinned cheekily. The return to a more normal routine picked her spirits up. Sei still had use for her skills after all. And to feel needed made one feel more than whole.

They were still family.

"Now that we're alone, is there anything I can do for you?" Leo asked with an impish grin. He didn't expect much but Sei regarded him seriously. A small flush stained her cheeks.

"Just your company, Leo… we'll take it from there."

Leo gaped at her in surprise. He flushed and scratched his neck. And for the first time in awhile, he wondered if he truly had a shot with her.

"Yes, ma'am," he said. Sei smiled.

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Jo walked side by side with Meg down the twisting corridors, her red eyes trained on floating red hair. Meg walked with a more sure gait instead of just rolling her hips, and her outfit was new, tight red and… Jo noted with a hint of disquiet… Meg wore her coat and scarf very well. She made them seem a part of her instead of accessories to an outfit.

When Meg lay unconscious in her arms, Jo had covered her with that coat. It was the only way she knew to reassure her partner and instead… she wound up not coming back. Jo knew she herself looked plain next to the more confidant Meg. She had pulled on a simple tank top, panties, and her usual chaps. Instead of boots, she had opted for slippers, hinting she was in a very different frame of mind. She had been cramped up in this secret base ever since Sei's take-over and had had very little sparring practice since.

Jo knew she had come out with serious injuries out of RAPT, and Sei didn't want her to push it. But she was starting to feel caged.

And now Meg was back at her side, but it was all wrong. She walked different, she looked different, hell, she even smelled different; a mixture of soft perfume and cigarettes, Jo noted with mild distaste. Did she start smoking? She was also wearing a gun as if it too were also now a part of her.

What else did Meg change in their separation?

Meg likewise was housing disturbed thoughts. Aside from the monosyllabic responses they gave about the day, the base, etc, she didn't know much about this Jo that well. Jo had always worn little to nothing if she could help it, but the slippers made her look like a shut-in.

"Sei should be in here," Jo murmured quietly as they approached two double doors. Meg straightened as they pushed inside…. Only to find Leo and Sei side by side eating Chinese noodles and sipping wine. The scene seemed so lovey-dovey that Meg would have wrinkled her nose if she hadn't been close to Sei in months. The older woman had looked a bit on the frail side of healing, and an image of the burnt-out RAPT building humbled Meg's mood.

Jo had done good by getting Sei out of that mess. She always did what she set out to do.

'But…,' Meg thought, stealing a side long look at the object of her heart. 'She always said she'd fight for me.' Meg had had to protect herself, Amy's feelings, and Leo's moods. Jo had broken her promise..!

"There you are, Jo," Sei beckoned them closer, her eyes warming toward Meg. Meg stumbled closer and held the hand offered to her. Even if she was still pissed at her, Meg WAS glad Sei was alright.

"Sei…"

"How are you Meg?" The look in Sei's eyes said 'We'll talk later.'

"I've been better."

'You bet we will,' Meg flashed back.

Jo glanced tiredly at Meg then turned to Leo.

"Jo," the old mechanic stood, half holding his arms out, so overwrought with emotion was he. He then merely clasped Jo's shoulder and patted her. Jo halfway smiled.

"Leo. You're looking good. How's Jango?"

"Prepped and ready for action," Leo grinned. Just like that, the two were settled back in their terms of exchanges.

"Come sit down and we'll have some lunch," Sei suggested, ever the diplomat. "Our chef is topnotch; maybe not as good as Kyohei, but good nonetheless."

Meg smiled ruefully, despite herself. "That wimpy jerk. He was the best."

"He sure put up with us," Jo murmured.

"Maybe with you guys, but I was sweet to him," Amy strolled in, scanning her laptop readily. She clapped it shut and turned to Jo. "You okay, Jo?"

"Amy…" Meg began but Jo shrugged.

"It's good to see you too, Amy…" Everyone could see the sad look in Meg's eyes.

Amy patted Jo's arm and crooked a thumb to her laptop. "I was just chatting with Kyohei, if you all wanna pass word on! He's doing great in Europe."

"Pastry chef, huh…" Jo murmured.

"Well, lunch sounds great," Meg put in. She took a seat on Sei's other side and pulled a packet of cigarettes out. Both Sei AND Jo quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Meg?" Sei began. Jo cast a gloomy look to Leo who was known to smoke the odd cigar while in his workshop.

"Your suggestion, Leo?" she asked. Leo paused, a chopstick full of noodles halfway to his mouth. The noodles slipped free and sloshed back into the bowl.

"You know I'm against kids polluting their lungs! And you know you can't say anything to Meg," Leo groused.

"Indeed you can't," Sei said with real affection. Meg felt a royal headache coming on despite the compliment.

"Got any of that wine, Sei?" she asked. Another look from Sei and Jo.

Cigarettes AND wine?

"You're gonna get old way too fast!" Amy complained. A pair of orderlies carried in extra bowls of noodles and Amy set to happily. "Oh, and I'll have a coke. No wine," she added pointedly.

"Point made, kid," Meg said, sipping from a goblet. Half the glass went down with the first sip.

Jo blinked, watching her. Everybody noticed the riveting separation still searing the two women apart.

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"I have to admit, Meg, that I'm impressed. You brought Amy and Leo through alright," Sei said, seating herself behind a massive oak desk. She had taken the redhead alone to her office because some things needed to be out, she was sure. The constant drinking and smoking were only part of the obvious implications.

Meg seated herself opposite the desk and crossed her legs. She cast her eyes to the snaking dragons entwined along the wall above Sei's head. The symbol of her grandfather's organization. Bai Lan was eternal and ever watchful; the golden dragon had risen high indeed. Meg tapped gloved hands on the chair's arms impatiently.

"I had to, Sei. I had to… you weren't there and nobody could find you." What meant to come out calmly rushed out in a flood. Meg tightened her hands into fists. "You asked Jo to come and she came for you, but she sure as hell didn't need me! She even took Takane with her and not me! I've taken care of her since we pulled her out of the docks and you pull this?"

It had actually been Shirley who had done that, but Meg was on a roll.

Sei smiled sadly. "Meg… I needed Jo's help but I never wanted her to leave you. It was the only way she thought she knew how to protect you. I'm sorry…"

"You're not the one who's sorry! I've had to drag us all along when we were down and all needed answers! We didn't know if you and Jo were dead or alive, we didn't…. we didn't…"

Stupid! Tears welled up in Meg's eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. She fiercely scrubbed them away, angrier now.

"We just didn't KNOW!" she wailed and Sei stood up, leaning on her cane. The older woman came attentively closer to Meg and laid a hand on her shoulder. Meg turned and buried her face into Sei's stomach, holding onto her. The tears came freely, wetting the bare expanse of flesh and Sei stroked her long hair. Her eyes were very sad.

"Oh, Meg…I am so sorry. When I said before we had to disband the group… I didn't mean like this. Those orders came from higher ups that no longer pass word onto me, and I couldn't come back to get you all. I am truly sorry. I wish there was something I could do to make it better for you," she murmured.

"Jo…" Meg wailed her eyes squeezed shut. The tears flowed like rain. "Jo isn't like how I knew! What happened to her? Why would she DO that to me?"

It was a long while, but Sei let Meg cry her grief out. Meg truly didn't know what to do with Jo and she needed to express her frustration away from the others. Sei lifted Meg's face and ran a thumb along her wet cheek. "You love Jo still, don't you?"

"I…" Meg looked away, her eyes doubtful. "I do…I think so… but…"

"It will take some time, Meg, but you'll get to know each other again. You've both been through a lot and you just need to find your place again. I don't think Jo can do without you; she does need you."

Meg wiped her eyes, her heart weighed by crushing sadness. Before, it was always Jo she ran to, but now… she wasn't sure if there was a place by her side.

"Yeah, well, you can say the same of Leo. You know that big baby took over your room in the trailer, he missed you so much?" Meg asked.

Sei grinned. "Did he now? I'll have to bring that up to him."

Meg sighed. "I find Jo and who gets a break? Frikkin' Leo."

"Well, maybe I've come to terms of what I really see in him," Sei leaned on her cane and walked slowly to her desk.

"So is he staying in your room or what?"

"That is none of your concern."

"So… do I get a room?"

"Amy gets one in the tech quarters. You will stay with Jo."

Meg's jaw dropped and she frowned at Sei. "What are you trying to pull?"

"I've watched Jo locked inside a mental pit for months. Now that you're here, you need to be close to her. She does need you, Meg. Believe in that."

Meg stalked out of the office, pissed off to hell. "I don't believe this…"

Sei quirked an eyebrow. Aside from the emotional outburst earlier, Meg had grown quite a bit since last she'd seen her. A few months ago, she would have yelled and hollered on her way out. Now only a string of cigarette smoke followed her with a muttered expletive. Sei waved a hand to clear her office. She'd really have to talk to Meg about designated smoking areas. But first…

Sei set her desk in order and shut out the lights. She tapped her way carefully along twisting corridors toward her lush chambers. When she closed the door behind her, Sei took in the sight of Leo seated nervously on the edge of her bed. He was twiddling his fingers when she cast her gaze upon him.

"When you said I could use this room, I had no idea it was yours," Leo confessed sheepishly. Sei leaned her cane against the nightstand beside the bed and slowly pulled her layered coat off. Her under cleavage bounced in her revealing top, and Leo stared up at her.

"Sei..?"

Sei touched his face with her good hand. She took his calloused palm and pulled it to the tie of her top behind her. Round white breasts seemed to ripple free when the top fluttered to the floor. Leo's face was as red as a tomato, his glasses fogged. Slowly, he stood and moved his hands up under those mounds, his mouth agape. He may have been in awe, but he was no fool to an obvious hint. Sei held the back of his head, thinking that gaping mouth would move to one of her large nipples, but Leo moved his hands around her waist and held her closely to him instead. He cupped the back of her head and tugged her hairpins out.

Sei flushed as her hair fell down around her shoulders. Leo studied her, his face serious. He leaned down and slowly claimed her mouth with his own. Sei's breasts squished up against the fabric of his shirt. Slowly, other articles of clothing littered the carpet. Leo clapped his glasses onto the nightstand as they moved onto the bed.

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Meg stopped at Jo's room and sighed. She turned the knob and went in. Jo was sitting on the floor, apparently waiting for her.

"You're back," she said.

Meg sighed. "Well… Sei wouldn't assign me a room. So here I am. Which means one of us will have to stay on the floor."

Meg was angry; as to why, Jo couldn't tell. She was confused and watched Meg take blankets off the sole bed and fluff them on the floor. Before, she would have made Jo sleep there, no questions asked. But she was going to lay there instead?

Jo put a hand on Meg's arm, halting her. Meg looked up into deep red eyes.

"It'll be me, then," Jo said. Meg regarded her for a moment as she shrugged out of Jo's red coat and fell onto the bed with a sigh.

"Alright…"

Jo settled onto the blankets and silence reigned. A moment later, Jo heard the metallic clinking of a lighter and smelt the acrid smell of cigarette smoke. She leaned up and watched Meg exhale a stream of hazy fog.

"Must you do that?"

Meg's answer was another slow exhale of smoke.

End for now

Endnote: Wheeee! Finally it's up! I wish I had more time to type this earlier, but school's a bitch.

Penpaninu

2/20/11


	5. The Impact

Author's Disclaimer: I don't own anything pertaining to Burst Angel. Whoever named all those girls after the Little Women (aside from Sei) is awesome, however.

Author's Note: Writing Amy is like letting your little mental id, who has a high vindictive streak, out of hibernation. And then watching the havoc they wreck with glee.

"Avenging Angel" chapter five

"The Impact"

Jo carefully opened her eyes in the darkness. She inhaled softly to catch a hint of what she should expect. Her sharp instincts picked up a trace of Meg's perfume, along with the stale aftermath of her nicotine nightcap. Jo kept her breath shallow as she carefully leaned up to gaze at the dim figure of the woman in her bed.

Meg had finally fallen asleep, and her hard expression had faded. She looked much younger, and still quite vulnerable, when asleep and Jo's mind swam with myriad thoughts as she gazed down at her partner's face. Meg…. What was she dreaming about? What thoughts went through her head? Jo reached a hand down and her fingers gently traced Meg's cheek. Softly this time….

…And Meg's eyes opened. For a moment she looked as if she were still in the middle of her dream, then she moved her face and brushed Jo's hand aside. Jo's brows raised slightly.

"Meg… it's just me," she said. Meg sat up and turned away from her.

"I know! I know…. It' s just…" She ran her hands through her hair, still turned away. Jo regarded her.

"Meg…"

"I'm going to take a shower. Alone," Meg said. She swept off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Jo stared as her old coat was dropped on the floor along the way. The symbolism was blaringly obvious and Jo sighed. She leaned back against the bed, stretching her bare legs out in front of her. Her red eyes watched the closed bathroom door, the cascade of water drumming in her sharp ears.

This hurt way too much; and this kind of pain she wasn't used to. It wasn't easy to turn off. Jo pressed a fist against her chest and pushed hard; harder. Anything to ease the pressure.

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Breakfast was a trial. Jo, in her own way, was trying to placate Meg to consent to let her near her. But Meg rebuffed her every advance. It was only the first day, but it was starting to piss Jo off.

"Could you pass the salt?" Meg asked tartly.

"Here…" Jo handed her the shaker and Meg flinched, doing everything to NOT touch her fingers.

"Would you just hand it to me?" Meg snatched it from her abruptly. Jo looked at her open palm and looked back at Meg. The redhead stuffed her mouth to avoid retort. Okaaaaay.

Jo ate sparingly and looked at Meg when she pushed back from the table.

"Where are you going?" Jo asked.

"To the range. Unless you think you're the only one good enough for a gun around here," Meg growled. Jo blinked.

"I didn't say that, Meg."

"What are you…"

"Okay, ladies, hold it. I could hear you halfway down the hall," Leo said. Meg sniffed.

"Who asked you to come in here, anyway?" she asked. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"We all need breakfast too, Meg. Hey, coffee. Hey, GOOD coffee," Leo made a break for the side bar and poured himself a mug. Jo regarded her yawning but smiling father figure and then to her old partner.

"Did you have a good night?" she inquired quietly.

Leo flushed but his wide grin betrayed him. "Well! That is…"

Meg sighed. Of COURSE Leo would have gotten some. It would be just like fate to reward him and leave her heart to dry.

"I need to shoot something. Bye…"

Jo watched Meg leave, the look on her face ponderous. "She never went to practice on her own before…."

Leo sat across from Jo with a heaping plate. His eyes were serious. "There's a lot of things Meg can do now she couldn't before."

Jo took a moment to think this over. "Like smoking."

"Jo…" Leo cut a sausage in half and speared half into his mouth. "Didn't you stay in the same room last night?"

"It didn't go like it once would have…" Jo murmured.

Leo took a noisy slurp of coffee. "She make you sleep on the floor, huh?"

Jo sighed. "Yeah… what about you? Didn't you sleep on the floor?"

"Heheh!" Leo grinned salaciously and tapped his fingers on the table. "Well, Sei…"

Jo cut him off. "I figured as much. Don't give me the details."

"Those belong to Sei and me alone," Leo agreed. He continued to scarf his food. "Now about your problem…"

"I wasn't aware I had a problem."

"Right…" Leo chewed a forkful of eggs and swallowed. "Jo, when a girl makes you sleep away from her, there's a problem. You should be more sensitive to Meg. Remember the final battle? We basically abandoned her at the end. Think of how she feels. Hell, Jo, she barely forgave ME and I was there too."

Jo's mouth parted slightly. "She's still mad about that?" In her mind's way of thinking, she had been protecting Meg by knocking her out; it was the only way she could think of to keep her out of trouble, and considering Meg would have followed her anywhere, it was an act she had to commit to.

Leo gave her a level look. "You'd always treated her fairly, and you hit her. What's worse, you vanished. She didn't know if you were even still alive."

Jo blinked tired red eyes. "She would have cared if I was alive?"

"Hell yeah she cared. I did too. Dammit, girl, I thought we were tighter than that," Leo frowned.

Jo sighed. "We were…"

Leo ate for a few quiet moments. "Well, never mind about that. We're puttin' you in Jango today."

The last request made Jo's smile come easier. "That sounds good, Leo."

"And then figure out your girl problem."

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Sliding back into Jango was like sliding into a favorite outfit. Jo slid into the console's seat and fitted her fingers around the joysticks. Jo looked down at the iron components and flexed her fingers.

"Jango…" she murmured. She flexed the mech's limbs, making Jango rotate and bend, complying to her wishes. One giant metal hand un-holstered the weapon at the robot's side, tailored to fit the size of the mech.

"How's he feel, Jo?" Leo yelled far away from the ground. Jo grinned. Her left arm and shoulder pulsated. She hadn't felt like this in a long time!

"Just great!" Jo called back. She had the mech fire a few rounds at the large targets painted along one long metal wall of the hangar. Loud vaulted silence echoed to a blood thirsty screaming inside her head. The usual maniacal grin that accompanied her fighting rage flashed across her lips. And Jo let fly her inner fury with Jango's movements.

Leo watched from across the hangar, a self-satisfied smile on his lips. Soft tapping let him know of Sei's arrival and he turned with a soft look. "How are you?" he asked.

Sei smiled and tapped the end of the cane on the metal floor.

"I'm getting there. My physical therapist advices me to watch out with any extraneous activities behind closed doors."

Leo in turns blushed and laughed loudly. "Nothing's damaged, I take it?" He slid an arm around Sei's bared lower back. The Chinese woman hesitated, then leaned against his stolid frame.

"Believe it or not, I took it easy. Although my therapist doesn't…"

Sei's thoughtful eyes took in Jango smashing it up at the opposite end of the hangar. "I couldn't give her that…"

"What, dear?"

Sei laughed. "Dear's fine; just don't make it 'baby.' "

"That'll work. But what couldn't you give her?"

"Peace of mind. She was still so far away…" Sei mused. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"It may be awhile yet. She and Meg are at straights."

Sei sighed. "That was to be expected. We left everything up to you three…" Leo clasped her waist.

"It's alright, Sei."

Sei's eyes followed Jo as she climbed out of Jango and walked off. "I wish I could tell her that…"

The taciturn warrior sauntered off calmly; a complete one-eighty to the tumultuous thoughts that threatened to undermine her battle high.

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Now this was more interesting.

Jo paused in the doorway of the base's gym, watching Meg square off against a man two heads taller and seventy pounds heavier. Meg herself was wearing a tight sweat suit and looked way too cute to be going up against the behemoth. Jo smiled, noting the way her curves looked. She herself was no stranger to the place, having gone through martial tests placed by Sei once their physical therapist deemed her ready. Jo clearly remembered dropping all her opponents to the green mats easily and waited to see what Meg would do in comparison.

Would the mats see a victory for the red-haired woman as well?

"Hyah!" the man screamed a battle cry and charged at Meg. The voluptuous woman held her hands up in a ready stance…. Jo blinked and Meg's palm was imbedded into the agent's square jaw. The man twitched, stunned, then Meg slammed her boot up into his crotch.

Jo smiled as the man squealed and dropped like a sack of monkeys. Meg dropped her stance and swiped a wrist across her brow.

"Whew, that felt pretty good! How you doin', Ju Wei?" Meg asked. The aforementioned Ju Wei groaned and held one hand up. Meg reached to help him stand and Jo walked on in.

"That was pretty good. You've gotten better at hand to hand, Meg," Jo offered. And she clearly was impressed. Meg had been known before for using her big mouth to get her out of a scrape, and kicking once the enemy was down.

But Meg sniffed at the comment, and regarded the other woman with cool eyes. Ouch.

"You saw that, huh?"

"I was just passing by."

"Well, you can un-pass by…"

"Sei says I need more practice."

"Huh?"

"Sei says I need to fight. So, fight me."

Meg gave a shaky laugh. "You can't be serious. Why?"

"I want to see what you can do."

"You just saw it. I'm going…" Meg waved a hand to brush the situation aside… and Jo caught her wrist with one hand. Her grip was unwavering. Meg looked at that hand, and into Jo's red eyes.

"Let go of me, Jo."

"No." Jo hooded her stare.

"NOW, Jo."

"Not unless you make me," Jo allowed herself to smirk. Meg glared and instinctively punched with her other hand but the genocide angel saw it coming. Jo jumped back and lifted her hands in sparring mode.

"That's more like it, Meg." The sheer confidence was definitely a turn-on. Meg lifted her own hands and spread her legs. Her round breasts pushed up against the zipper of her tight sweat top.

Jo's eyes blinked, noting that. Suddenly, all the longing of the past few months gushed through her body in waves of liquid arousal. Those long, lean legs, the curve of hip and ass… Not to mention her rather large chest assets.

Ju Wei noted the spark, whether from anger and/or arousal, between the two women, and crawled out of the gym while the gettin' was good.

"You better be ready, Jo," Meg growled. Jo smirked, a light firing in her red eyes.

"Come on, then."

"Hyah..!" Meg punched and Jo easily dodged. She evaded the next few blows. When she gently pushed Meg back a step, a similar fire glowed in her blue eyes. But her foot wound up in Jo's midsection all the same.

Jo woofed and jumped back. Impressive. "You've definitely gotten better, Meg."

"You're just noticing? I can more than take care of myself now," Meg retorted. She flipped her red hair over her shoulders and waited. Jo vaulted over her head in a back flip and caught Meg's wrists when she whipped around to meet her. Meg grunted and hissed in frustration as the two jockeyed for dominance. Meg swept her foot at Jo's legs, knocking her off balance. Jo almost went backwards, but then shifted her weight.

This put her directly on top of Meg, the both of them going down hard on the mats. Meg groaned, temporarily stunned. Jo fell between Meg's legs, and held her stance over Meg's bent knees before she could think to throw her off.

Were the circumstances different, Meg would be mewing for some action right then and there. But disappearances create rifts and Meg's brows lowered, her reddened face furious as she panted, trying to throw Jo off. Jo gaped down at her face, lust pounding through her core. A bead of slow sweat dripped off the white-haired girl's face. Meg HAD gotten stronger. It was taking quite a bit of effort to keep her position.

Not to say it wasn't pleasurable trying to keep a squirming Meg down. Jo's eyes scanned Meg's bare neck and heaving bosom. Before she could stop to think, Jo ground herself low, rubbing herself hard between Meg's spread legs. Meg gasped, her face twisted in a scowl torn from physical lust and her wounded feelings.

When Jo's face began to dip toward her partially covered cleavage, Meg tore a hand free. Jo didn't have time to think about that as her fist suddenly connected to the side of her head with a loud smack. Bright lights filled Jo's vision as she reeled back, Meg pushing her the rest of the way. Jo fell on her side and scrambled to her knees, blinking hard and trying to see. Damn!

"Meg!" she called. Two more resounding smacks against the side of her face. Jo raised up and swung back; missed. Her vision began to come back in waves, Meg seethed in front of her, her face twisted in an angry mask.

"I've gotten stronger, Jo… I'm not that little girl anymore!"

"Who said you were?" Jo held a stance, blinking one eye rapidly. Meg hauled back and smacked her again; again, without much resistance from Jo.

Good. Let her get it out.

"I wanted to find you, but you could have found ME! You always did!" Meg yelled. Tears slid down her cheeks. Jo blinked. She raised a hand toward her face and Meg whapped it aside. Jo deflected the next few wild punches and spun behind Meg. Her arms held her captive at waist and collar bone.

Meg flailed wildly, trying to disengage herself. Her backside pushed involuntarily back against Jo's slight frame. Jo used her full strength and held on tightly. Her head dipped low, her lips finding a bare line of flesh where neck met shoulder.

Meg froze. Jo rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, her white bangs ruffling up.

"I'm here, Meg…"

Then Meg fought back even harder.

"Let… go of me!" she hissed. Meg broke loose momentarily and Jo slammed her back up against her. Now they were front to front and their breasts rubbed against each others' through the fabric of their clothing. Meg's nipples stiffened despite herself. She got an arm free and hit Jo again. Jo held her wrist with one arm and tugged Meg's face to her, her arm crooked 'round her neck.

A hard kiss escaped and Meg froze, tasting Jo. Her arms scraped up her sides, her fingers clawing the fabric of her tank top. Jo let her scrape and feel, and a loud woof DID escape when Meg shoved her onto the mats. Meg stood over her, her chest heaving. Her face was as red as her hair and she seemed to be reigning in herself.

"Okay… Jo, we need to…"

This wouldn't do. Jo grabbed one of Meg's legs and yanked her down. Meg half fell, on her and on the mats. As Meg wriggled, Jo climbed on top, straddling her waist with her knees.

"Jo! Hnn!" Meg gasped. Jo leaned low, rubbing her core against Meg's pubic bone. Her aloof face was pink and a serious gazed fired from her red eyes. Before Meg could frame a line of thought (or exercise a thought into words for that matter), Jo leaned down and captured her mouth again. Meg fought back, heating up the friction between them. For a warrior bred like Jo…. It was more a turn-on than any come-hither look or sweet word could do.

"Hnnn…. Jo!" Meg hissed, pounding on Jo's back with one hand. Jo held her other wrist flat on the floor as her free hand quickly snaked down to her hoodie top….a quick yank and the zipper was pulled down and open, exposing Meg's breasts to the fluorescent lighting and Jo's stare.

Meg panted, silent, her breasts quivering. Jo leaned down and buried her face between the orbs, bit the edge, and sucked to a large nipple. The tip hardened immediately and Jo lapped at it, watching Meg's face.

Her eyes were now closed and she was breathing hard. Her hand swept down Jo's back, touching bare expanses of flesh between her tank top and panties; her groping fingers swept up into Jo's hair.

Jo pressed her throbbing warmth to Meg's knee, straddling one leg so she could get to what she wanted. Meg finally stopped fighting when Jo's hand crept beneath the drawstring of her sweatpants and stroked her folds. She laid her head back on the green mat with a loud gasp.

Jo kissed to her other breast as she parted throbbing folds carefully with two fingers and stroked inside. It had been so long… but Meg parted easily, her insides slick. Meg's hips bucked to meet her and Jo began a sure rhythm that Meg writhed to. Jo looked up from the nipple between her lips, watching Meg's gasping lips. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her mouth was open.

Jo leaned up, her palm cupping Meg's snatch while her fingers pressed inside. She pressed an open mouth kiss to Meg's gaping lips; trailed and dipped her tongue into the wet cave. Meg pushed up under her, their bodies moving together in tandem. Jo's bare feet pressed against the mats as she rocked on top of Meg; her slippers had long since been kicked off.

Meg arched suddenly, panting harder. Jo bit the skin at the base of her neck, knowing from experience that she was close. Meg reached down Jo's body to her busy hand and pushed against it, sliding Jo's fingers in all the way. Bright lights filled her vision as she arched her hips high off the mat, bringing her clenching center almost up to Jo's nose. Jo looked down, mentally salivating at the sight of the soft, pink folds. She drew her wet fingers in… and out…

The hood of her clitoris was flushed pink and Jo wanted to wrap her lips around the protruding nubbin and suck down until Meg came again and again… A high cry keened far off through the ringing in Jo's ears. Meg was close and she didn't want to move her lest her orgasm be pushed off….

She knew from experience what a bitch not arriving to an almost reached orgasm was.

Jo purred and held Meg's backside up into the air with her free hand and pumped into her with the other. Meg came a few minutes later, her hips violently slaking Jo's wrist to an aching dullness. Jo laid her down, her eyes soft as satisfaction of a different kind danced jubilantly through her ego… and Meg sat up and pushed Jo onto her back.

Again, Jo fell down hard, the breath all but knocked out of her, as Meg climbed on top. She pushed Jo's head back, bit her neck, shoved her tank top up to reveal small breasts and kissed there too. She bit a gentle trail down the muscled stomach to black panties which she peeled back. Jo leaned up on her elbows and when Meg looked up, she could count surprise on her face in maybe the fifth time in her life.

"Meg…" Jo said huskily. Meg, high on the moment, bent her head. Her long hair fell against Jo's thighs, draping over her torso. The sight was sexy enough and Jo's blood boiled as she waited for the first touches. She hissed when her mouth settled against her folds and went to work. The only sounds filling the gym were small strangled moans from Jo as she battled her desire. She was so pent up, it was a quick ride. Her grasping hands fell onto Meg's head, urging her on.

Jo stared straight up at the lights above them, choking on a strangled cry. Meg bit her hip possessively after her labored breathing settled to a calmer rhythm. Meg wiped her mouth and swept a hand through her hair, suddenly self-conscious. She was still angry at Jo… wasn't she? But she had started that little fight, and then….

Jo leaned up on her elbows, half naked, and sweaty. The look in her red eyes was sensuous and Meg's heart skipped a beat. Love wouldn't leave her, hidden away though it was.

"Come here, Meg…" Jo murmured. Meg shrugged out of her hoodie top and slid out of her sweatpants. Jo shed the rest of her garments as well. Meg pressed up against Jo's warm skin and felt her hands settle over her back.

"You better not… hmm!" Meg stared off as Jo parted her lips with her tongue. She pulled Jo close and the two rolled against each other.

Takane peered into the gym's doorway, did a double take, and made sure to lock the door behind her. "Hope it helps 'em both some," she muttered, rubbing at a reddened cheek.

Inside, Jo moved on top of Meg.

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"Uh huh. I'll meet you there. Jyaa," Sei said and hung up the phone. She straightened up papers awkwardly with one hand as a rap sounded on her office door. "Come in."

Takane opened the door at the missive and sidled inside. Her lip was still purple but the puffiness had gone down. The same couldn't be said of her eyes; it was a wonder she could see at all.

"Did you see our doctor?" Sei asked. Takane nodded, scratching at a bandage over her left cheek.

"Ah sure did. Meg whooped me good, and she may have had the upper hand, but I'm gonna need to have a sit-down with her sometime soon," Takane shook her head. "But that's now what ahm here 'bout."

"Please," Sei gestured to one of the chairs before her desk. Takane sat and crossed her legs impishly.

"Ah c'n tell yeur worried 'bout Jo, but yeu don't hafta worry for much longer."

"Why's that?" Sei wondered. She leaned her chin onto her folded hands.

Takane fiddled with the arm of her chair. "Let's just say you don't want to be going into the gym anytime soon."

"Why would… oooooooh," Sei said, smiling softly. "Well, good for them."

'And maybe now Jo will be a little less tense.'

Takane sighed and pressed a hand to her brow. "An here ah didn't wanna see it. Ya might not know it from lookin' at me, but I go fer the men. Now, they can KEEP th' lady lovin.' "

"Love is love, no matter what the form," Sei smiled patiently.

"So, did you need anything from me?" Takane asked. Sei nodded.

"I'll be heading above ground to meet one of my generals in the city. He thinks it time I see my main men in person, and personally, I think the majority of danger has passed also. I'll be taking Meg and Jo and leaving you with Amy and Leo. You're in charge if they ask," Sei said. She collected her cane and pushed to stand up.

Takane managed a grin. "Yeu c'n count on ME, Sei. Are you sure Jo's up fer it?"

"Before you came to me, I wasn't so sure. But your tidbit helped me come to a decision," Sei confided. She walked to her office door and Takane kept pace with her. Pulling her cell phone out, Sei scanned her contact list and settled on one name.

"Well, I'll see you later then," Takane said and ambled off. Sei nodded and clicked 'send' on the highlighted number.

"Kyohei? Of course this is Sei. And I have my ways of finding you, young man. Oh, and Amy says hi," Sei smiled.

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Meg twined her fingers though Jo's hair, idly running her digits into the damp strands. Jo pressed closer, her face between Meg's mountainous orbs. She yawned widely, her mouth opening against the soft globe of flesh. Meg tapped her foot against the back of Jo's bare leg.

"It's been awhile," she said quietly. Jo's red eyes slid as she began to snore. She carefully opened her eyes and yawned again.

"Those would have been my words…" she murmured quietly. Jo moved up on her elbows to look down into Meg's face. Their flushed naked limbs were entwined across the green mats and squished when peeled away with movement. Meg cupped the other girl's cheek with her palm.

"Don't you dare leave me again; I WILL find you," Meg swore. Jo blinked down at the voluptuous girl. She had always been the one doing the searching… to hear this from her partner was… more than passing strange.

"Meg..." Jo began when an object thrown on top of her discarded clothing buzzed loudly, clamoring for their attention. Jo crawled off Meg and clapped a hand over the beeper, bringing the slim square up to read. Sighing she set the pager down and turned to the other naked girl.

"Sei needs us."

Meg stretched like a cat baking and sat up.

"Just like old times, huh?"

Jo collected her clothing and watched Meg put her girls away with a twinge of regret. "Are you going to keep up?"

Meg zipped up her hoodie top and swept her long hair over one shoulder. "Just you wait, Jo. Leo has a surprise for me to use."

Jo raised an eyebrow, wondering. The two women unlocked the gym door and walked out. As they went, both couldn't help but wonder if either had been the one to lock it in the first place.

End for now

End Note: School really is a bitch. So is working full-time. And finding time for my art. I love writing, and love how this fic is going. But time is a bitchy feminine thing.

Penpaninu 3/9/11


	6. Moment of Respite

Author's Disclaimer: We don't own anything that belongs to Burst Angel. This chapter was also written by my girlfriend and not myself.

"Avenging Angel" chapter six

"Moment of Respite"

That night Kyohei flew in from Italy. Even though everyone was happy to see him, Amy was especially pleased. The time they spent closely talking to each other (and some careful flirting) didn't go unnoticed by the others. Especially the way Amy blushed around him. Sei smiled as she was happy that all of her "wards" were finally at peace. Even she had found happiness with Leo. They were almost a family…

'No,' Sei thought. 'We ARE a family.' Her heart swelled at the thought.

Kyohei was spared from cooking that night even though everyone wanted to try the new concoctions he had learned abroad. Sei insisted he work for her again as head chef and train her cooks. He accepted the offer from her with a big smile, per the request she hire a teacher in his off-time. Sei agreed.

A loud ring tone interrupted the laughter from the table and Sei excused herself to another room to take the call she knew would be important (as the caller ID alerted her).

"Yes," she said softly. The voice of a male on the other line gave her the news she didn't want to hear.

"The Bai Lan syndicate do not accept Sei-san as heir to Head of the Dragon. They have gone rogue and cut themselves off from us. We will meet with them in the morning to discuss matters."

"As Head of the Dragon, we shall we waiting," Sei replied, giving her title to tell the caller she did not accept the nature of the news.

"Yes, Sei-san." The voice returned respectfully.

Sei clapped her phone shut and walked back to the dining room where the laughter erupted again as the friends reminisced on the first time Kyohei had joined them.

"You were such a pansy," Meg exclaimed.

"I thought he was cute," Amy chimed in as Kyohei's face reddened.

Even Jo laughed. "I thought I would have to shoot you, Kyohei…"

Sei decided not to spoil the moment. 'After dinner,' she thought. 'Let them have peace for once.'

After they finished their meal, Sei calmly called to the crimson-eyed girl.

"Jo," she said from across the mahogany table. Jo's stare initially turned towards her. She knew that tone of voice meant business. "Are you up for a job in the morning?"

Jo's eyes gleamed with excitement, her blood flowing faster in the veins. Her heartbeat was audible, pulsating throughout her ears.

"Yes, I'm ready," she said in monotone as always even though everyone could see the endorphin rush the mere shift in tone to her name had hit her, like drugs to an addict. Her eyes were afire and her grip on Meg's hand tightened.

Meg smiled; she knew that other than their bond, Jo's existence hindered on what she was; a creation of war. Only those closest to her had ever dared to see her other side.

Later that evening, Sei summoned the both of them to see her.

"Come in," Sei called out as she sat in the leather chair in her office. Both Meg and Jo entered and sat down quietly in front of the massive desk awaiting news. The Chinese woman tapped her finger on a large file folder. Meg noticed Jo's picture stapled to the top right-hand side of it. Sei took a deep breath.

"I'm glad you two are here; especially you, Meg. As you know, tomorrow I'm going to need Jo's assistance. The western Bai Lan syndicate has defected. They do not accept me as heir although I am my grandfather's only successor."

Meg responded quickly. "So who thinks they can take your place?"

Sei smiled. "Meg…this is exactly why I had Jo secluded. My cousin, Chongkun, has data on the Genocide Angel Project. He knows everything about the glowing brains and the massive weapon he could have if he possessed someone like Jo. But Jo is the last of them. He doesn't know Jo lives and thinks she is dead. Nonetheless, he has managed to gain support and will try to raise himself above me. If he could produce a genocide angel, he would use it to wage war. And that is something we don't want."

Sei handed Jo the file. "This is who you are, Jo. Your whole life is in here; how you came to be, your training, programming…. And every bit of data RAPT had on you."

Jo stared blankly at the file and finally stood up. She walked over to the hearth and threw it in. With a flick of the gas switch, she torched her origins. Meg and Sei stared in awe. Jo sat down again beside Meg and in her calm voice said merely: "That was me, Sei, my past. I might be the product of a test tube, but I'm human now."

Meg slowly reached for Jo's hand and squeezed as Jo continue. "You are family, Sei, and we will fight for you. Just give us the details."

Sei smiled and clasped one hand over her cast.

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That night was excruciating for Jo. The minutes passed like hours as she lay in bed staring at the green digits from the face of the alarm clock on her nightstand. Meg could feel Jo tense and fidget, sometimes lolling her limbs across the sheets. Every so often she would turn over onto her stomach, and flip back like a restless child. The silver of steel from Jo's Desert Eagles gleamed in the low light of the room as they sat, waiting, atop their dresser.

"Jo, is everything alright?" Meg whispered. Jo leaned up and looked into the sapphire blue eyes of her partner. Her lips stretched to a ghost of a smile.

"Yeah…" she responded.

"You miss the way we were; a mission almost every day, don't you?" Meg asked. Jo sighed.

"Yeah… I miss it." The waiting was torture. It was like giving a time limit for a massive battle to a bloodthirsty soldier on duty in the trenches. She couldn't wait to rain down destruction on Sei's enemies…

Meg, in turn, was worrying about Jo. She knew Jo would have to sleep at least a little bit before the next morning if she was to be at her best. The red-haired girl slowly closed the distance between them and kissed Jo slowly. Their lips opened and their tongues began to duel. Meg slowly ran her hands up Jo's body and pushed her over onto the mattress. She lifted her torso above the warrior and slid her top off to reveal her well-endowed breasts.

Jo initially grabbed Meg and pulled her down for another passionate kiss. Meg's red hair cascaded over Jo's face and she enjoyed the sensation. Jo's hands slid under Meg as she sat up. Jo wrapped Meg's breasts as the redhead rubbed her core against her. Jo could feel Meg's wetness drip and moisten her midsection. She urged Meg on by grabbing her hips; she let Meg rub on top of her. Before she could orgasm, Jo stopped her.

Blue eyes flung open at the sensation of being denied the pleasure of coming. Jo smiled up at her partner and then flipped her over onto her back.

"Not so fast," Jo whispered.

"Uhn, Jo," Meg whimpered as the silver-haired girl kissed her neck and traced a pat down to Meg's legs. Just when Meg thought Jo was about to taste her, Jo continue down to her leg, teasing the red-head.

"Please, Jo," Meg shivered in anticipation. Jo finally kissed Meg softly on her clit and Meg let out a loud moan as she let her fingers entwine in Jo's short locks. Jo's tongue devoured Meg softly at first, but with every pull on her head, and not to mention Meg's moans, Jo's mission was to bring her to the brink and beyond.

"More, Jo, please," Meg gasped as her orgasm flowed. Jo continued her soft assault on her lover as she rode the last waves of ecstasy. Jo kissed a path back up to look into her lover's eyes. Meg pulled her down into a deep kiss, tasting herself upon her warrior's lips.

"I can never get enough of you, Meg," Jo said calmly. Meg regained her breath and opened her eyes.

"I love you, Jo." Meg traced the lines of Jo's tattoo. She knew the lines by heart even though they were only visible in the heat of battle. Meg kissed Jo softly and then moved to her ear. Jo moaned loudly. Meg knew her lover's sensitive spots well. "Hmm, Jo, you like that, don't you?"

Jo moaned her approval. She belonged to Meg and knew it. Meg looked deep into her lover's crimson eyes as she slid two fingers inside. Jo loved it when she touched her in this way. Her dripping wet folds parted as Meg reached deeper inside her.

"Hmm, Meg, only you can do this… to hmmmm, me."

Meg smiled coyly as her hands wandered to Jo's nipples and pinched one hard. Meg knew the genocide angel's pain threshold was huge, and her sometimes rough playing in bed showed it. Jo loved the mixture of pleasure and pain only her soul mate could give her. Meg bent down to Jo's shoulder and bit down playfully. She sucked on the wound she created, sending shivers through Jo's body.

She continued to pump her fingers on Jo's soft spot as the gunslinger girl erupted in orgasm. Meg slid her fingers out slowly and smiled to see Jo still clenching the sheets around her. Her white-knuckled fingers tensed, gripped….

Meg bent down and kissed Jo softly. "Hmmm, is my love satisfied?"

"Yes, beautiful Meg. I think I can rest now."

The two women cuddled up facing each other, their limbs entwined and sleep claimed them both finally.

End for now

End note: This took so long, my girlfriend took the helm and just slew this out one night at work! I am a horrible writer, and needed help :P Thanks, Inuskye!

Sincerely yours, penpaninu

3/31/11


	7. Big Trouble in Little China

Author's Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to the series Burst Angel. They belong to the companies and not me.

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update! Between semesters of class and hoping to pass final tests are stressful. That and a very affectionate kittydog who won't climb off my lap so I can maneuver the keyboard accurately doesn't help either :P I love the latter however! Action scenes are incredibly hard for me to write. To do so, I almost have to numb down the content, and treat it like an action film that I could cheer through. Hope it made for good imagery!

"Avenging Angel" chapter seven

"Big Trouble in Little China"

"Don't you worry, Leo, I'm going to be fine," Sei said. She pinned her long hair up and turned her head this way and that. Her reflection exceeded the confidence a leader of Bai Lan should possess. Leo, shirtless and muscular, sat on the edge of the wide bed they now shared and watched the lines of Sei's back with rapid interest.

"All I'm saying is that I should be your fire power if Jo's not ready." He huffed a stream of cigarette smoke with a frustrated sigh.

"I think you're worried more about me than Jo," Sei met his eyes in the mirror. Leo tapped his cigarette against the side of an ash tray and nodded. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose.

"I know you have a lot of big guns aiming for you, Head Dragon or not. If you're my woman, I'm with you, through hell or high water." Leo looked up and blinked when Sei laid her hands onto his broad shoulders. She smiled and bent to kiss her mechanic on the forehead.

"Baby, I'm going to be fine. Jo IS ready. She and Meg are going to back me up should anything go awry. I've pinned my trust on those girl's abilities before and they've always come through. Besides," Sei turned back to the mirror and picked up her layered coat. "You've said Meg's gotten better at her marksmanship. That should be something."

Leo nodded and leaned back on the bed. "She has. She really worked on herself while we were out there."

Leo could recall Meg practicing nonstop for several days after she had finally dragged herself out of bed. She had gone through ten boxes of ammo and several hours and it had started to rain. The redhead still trained her gun on her makeshift target and kept at it. She had fired again, and again and again…

Sei smiled. "I'm confident things will go smoothly. Just wait calmly for me here."

"Can't make you any promises," Leo grinned around his cigarette. Sei waved a hand around, fanning the smoke.

"Please, we talked about this."

"Yes, ma'am."  
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Back in Jo's room, the two girls similarly suited up Meg zipped her red top up and made to shrug into Jo's coat when she stopped. Jo slid her Desert Eagles into her holsters and stepped into her boots. She peered almost disinterestedly at herself in the mirror and turned in surprise when Meg laid her old coat across her shoulders.

"I left that for you," she murmured. Meg smiled softly.

"It looks better with its owner. You'll need this too," she said and swathed her yellow scarf around Jo's neck. Jo almost hunched, ducking into the folds of coat and scarf. Meg knew her perfume was laced through both garments now and watched as Jo subconsciously smelled her.

"Thank you," she whispered softly. Meg's eyes twinkled.

"Well now that that's settled, we should get on out there," Meg said, her old confidence shining. Jo reached up a hand and touched Meg's face. Meg stopped and blinked wide eyes to her partner.

"Whatever comes, we've got this."

Meg nodded and placed her fingers over Jo's hand. "Whatever Sei's got lined up, that is," Meg said.

Draconian drug lords were now a piece of cake. Figure heads of the Bai Lan syndicate couldn't be so far off. Jo watched Meg with her red, red eyes.

"Maybe I'll get to see you use that," she murmured. Meg laid a hand over her gun and grinned.

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"They're ready for you now," the powerfully built Chinese man stated. Sei smiled a very self-satisfied smile up at him. The guard, who had a prominent bulge in his suit jacket promising a large handgun, had attempted to rebuff Sei's arrival with delays and other seemingly insulting reprimands to her station. Meg didn't know what Sei had said to him when she leaned in close enough to murmur, but her words had the red carpet out in no time; and it wasn't the display of cleavage either that got the ball rolling.

Jo stood, a silent statue, beside her. Her hands lay against her side, relaxed digits that grazed the holsters of her weapons. It was the lightest of subconscious gestures, and the guard had seen it all, but even he paled at the embers of Jo's eyes promising a fight.

The brick of a man held the ornately carved door open for the women and stepped aside as they passed through. Meg exhaled a long stream of smoke into his face and grinned cheekily up the wall of his chest as she went by. Jo brought up the rear, blinking as she passed through the trail of smoke. She had asked Meg to stop and Meg had still lit up by force of habit.

Jo tried not to flinch as the door closed behind them with an audible clang as they entered a large conference room. A quick glance told her there were no other exits in the room and it ground at her that the only way out had been shut behind them. If a fight went down, the enemy would obviously know their only route of retreat.

Inside was a large round table, bright with polish. High-backed chairs with intricate carvings marked places and Sei made her way to the one with an elaborate dragon carved into the back. She did not sit down but stood beside the chair, waiting.

Meg and Jo picked places beside her. They didn't have long to wait before the door banged open. Several older men entered, resplendent in designer suits with subtle blocks and whorls stitched across their sleeves. The V.I. P's guards trailed in after, silent muscle who looked at Meg and Jo without the slightest bit of interest. They had to be straight, but they were all business.

Jo cocked an eyebrow. So they counted her out without knowing what she could do. Their mistake really.

The oldest had heads of hair as white as Jo's, the style trimmed short at the neck while they grew their beards long. Sei's grandfather had looked like that, Meg remembered. She wondered if it was a fashionable or cultural look for leaders of Bai Lan, when Sei smiled, receiving slight bows from the men.

"Sei-san, we are glad to see you," one bent man smiled, his eyes crinkling behind thick glasses. His guard offered him his arm and he leaned lightly against the young man's strength. A younger man, with streaks of gray in his thick black hair, snorted and crossed his arms over his massive belly.

"Perhaps you are, Wong, but you don't speak for all of us," he huffed.

"And you are always full of complaints, Wei. I would say it a curse of your years, but Sei has shown remarkable more grace," Wong nodded his head to the serene Chinese woman. Sei's smile was far more genuine for the old man, but though reserved for the latter, maintained the air of diplomacy.

"Whether you are glad to see me or not, I am glad you are all here. Revered Heads of Bai Lan, won't you join us?" Sei requested. She sank gracefully into the elaborate dragon chair. Meg made to sit in the chair beside her, but stopped when she saw one of the men reaching for it. A quick glance at Jo showed the warrior hadn't budged an inch, remaining a silent book end at Sei's side.

Meg resigned herself to standing with a mental sigh. She really hoped Sei wouldn't think she should pour her drinks or serve anything.

Sei sank into her chair and clasped her hands on the tabletop. "Shall we begin?" she invited.

Servants silently filed in as she began, filling cups with tea, wine or sparkling mineral water. Meg flicked her eyes toward Jo on the other side of Sei's chair. She raised an eyebrow and Jo stared woodenly back with her red gaze. 'No drinks for us?' Meg thought. Jo seemed to read her thought for her gaze blinked, seeming to say 'We're just the scenery here.'

Meg ran a red tongue over her lower lip and pulled a cigarette out discreetly. Jo's brow quirked wildly but she didn't speak up with the meeting going on.

The negotiating went on for another ten minutes but really felt more like an hour. Meg had to cross her arms and pinch her elbow to keep from falling asleep. A quick look at Jo told Meg to keep her composure. Like her memories of her, Jo was still and placid, her lowered red eyes giving nothing away. Meg studied her profile then flicked her eyes toward Sei. One of the Chinese men yelled suddenly, breaking the low murmur of amicable tones. Her eyes flicked over to the men and her fingers itched. Something was starting up. She and Jo tensed on either side of Sei.

"I don't care WHAT you're saying, you're not running things!"

"Li!" One of the younger men gasped. A curt gesture from Li and he shut up. Sei smiled calmly, her eyes warmly taking in the irate man.

"Despite what your opinions are to the extent of my abilities, I AM running things as you put it. I was trained by my grandfather since I was old enough to write. No matter how sudden my ascension to Head Dragon, you can be assured I have been prepared for many years."

Jo's eyes watched Sei's fingers slowly tapping on the edge of her chair. She had learned to read the woman over the course of their time together, enough to know that the seemingly languid gesture signaled an alert to attack. Jo could feel a fire surge through her veins at the thought. Her red eyes took in each dark or white head as a target with a giant bull's eye.

On Sei's other side, she could see Meg similarly tensed. She mentally nodded with approval.

"And I'm calling you a dickless slut who should know her place!" Li growled. Jo flicked tired eyes to the frothing businessman and heard faint clicking at the double doors…. This was not good.

"You watch your mouth. Someone might think you need it washed out," Meg taunted. She exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke toward the instigator and quickly assessed the others. Sei sat with quiet confidence beside her but several older men were stressed, their white-knuckled hands gripping the arms of their chairs tightly.

"Meg, that's enough," Sei said, but she also noticed how their guards were similarly tensed and Meg gauged each young man with a sense of despair. They wouldn't be much help in a gun fight.

"Now, now, there is no reason to raise your voice," an oily voice called out. The clipping sounds produced a younger chinese man, resplendent in a designer black suit. Intricate stitching trailed his sleeve cuffs, depicting a roaring dragon on each arm. Sei stood, leaning on her cane, and regarded the newcomer with a mediocre amount of surprise.

"Chongkun. I should have known to expect you here."

Who was this clown? Jo didn't know and she really didn't care. She could feel and smell the tensions rising and her blood boiled in response.

"And yet you don't seem surprised. An admirable quality you've always possessed, cousin Sei. No one could ever get anything by you. Well, maybe just Jei," Chongkun smirked. He was flanked by two stereotypical tough guys.

"What do you want, little cousin? Compensation? You should talk to Grandfather for that," Sei said. Chongkun raised an eyebrow.

"I've talked to him time and time again. He sings of nothing but praise for you. So I thought I'd come straight to the source and discuss our little…. disagreement."

"Chongkun, you worthless whelp, you should honor the old Head's decision! He's picked Sei for his heir, and she already acts in his stead," the bent Wong chewed out. His guard laid an arm in front of him protectively.

"It's okay, Mr. Wong. We'll handle this appropriately," Sei leaned on her cane; this was not good. Her old injuries throbbed, making thought distant. She had to get through this! "Chongkun, you aren't in line for succession. You won't have any chances either…"

'As I intend to have children,' she thought. But there was no reason to express THIS thought. Her younger cousin visibly seethed.

"That's what you think. Sorry, cuz, we could have worked this out more simply…."

Jo didn't want for his gesture. "Get down!" As goons filed in, she was already throwing Sei under the table, Meg following in pursuit. 'Protect Meg/Sei' flooded through her being as red tinged her vision. The resounding gunfire that missed them reverberated in her ears and Jo grit her teeth in an insane grin.

One swift movement and she was up, both Desert Eagles in her hands. Meg was beside her, red gun held before her. Burly men fell as they ran into the conference room. Some were able to get a few shots off before they were disabled or killed; Jo commended them internally but Meg and Sei's safety wouldn't allow an inch of complicity.

Meg grit her teeth and crawled under the long table, Sei in tow. She could hear bodies being thrown this way and that. Jo was in the fray, jumping bullets and fists like something out of a nightmare. The red-haired girl leaned on one elbow to reload, scattering smoking shells across the carpet heedlessly as she crawled along under the table. "Sounds like Jo's taking care of the rest. Do you want Chongkun alive?" Meg asked. Sei held up her own pistol and nodded.

"If he had the sense to get out of here, yes. I'd rather take him alive," Sei assessed the new predatory look in Meg's eyes. She was more hardened to battle.

"Stay here," Meg ordered. She grabbed the leg of the nearest person and hauled a bent body down toward them. Wong held an arm over his head, a smoking pistol clutched in his other hand. "And hold onto him!"

Sei put her hand on Wong's shoulder, and the two Chinese nodded. "Wait, since when do YOU give me orders?" Sei quipped to her subordinate. Meg pulled the hammer back and shimmied forward on her belly.

"Since Jo needs my help!" Meg jumped up to fire a few shots, her breasts bouncing in her tight top. A guard gawked at that momentarily and her bullet hit him between those widened eyes. She pulled the neutral Heads down or in extreme motions, kicked at limbs until they got the hint. One old man's shin made a sound like peanut brittle snapped in two and he screamed as he fell under the table.

Meg grimaced despite herself. 'Sorry, Gramps,' she internally apologized. Glancing up carefully, Meg made out the edges of Jo's scarf fluttering with her frantic motions through the haze of gun smoke. As she moved closer, gun at the ready, Meg was overcome by two massive arms hauling her up off the ground from behind. A hissed scream wrenched from her throat despite herself and rage settled in next. Meg fought back, making the man exert way too much effort to hold her close to him. Meg finally hooked one foot in a chair and hoisted herself up and back, on top of the guard. They went crashing down in a tangle of limbs and as Meg was congratulating herself, she felt a ribbon of fire explode from her left shoulder, followed almost belatedly by the bang of the bullet's trajectory.

Meg blinked as stars blinked rapidly, lighting the dark corners of her blackening vision, and a far off wailing made her brain turn over. In a sense of non-reality, she recognized the sound coming from her own open mouth. A flash of red and white bulled over and Meg lifted her head to see Jo's red coat flare as she descended on the last guards, her guns extended in both hands.

She shot one in the face and flipped her other Eagle over, the pommel extended. Jo slashed her arm long, almost tearing off the other man's nose as she hit him with the butt of her weapon. The brutal impact knocked him off his feet and cartoonishly sideways. Jo's flaring red eyes bounced closer to her and her lips parted in a question.

Meg fought through the haze of pain and erupted suddenly to the now. She hissed and pounded on the floor with one hand. "Where is he? Fucking bastard!" Meg yelled. Jo reached into Meg's top and pressed over the point of entry. Meg almost fainted from the clasp of sharp fingers over the wound.

"I got 'im. Don't worry about him, Meg," Jo's eyes cooled as she wound her scarf off and tied it expertly around Meg's shoulder. Sei crawled out next to them, pulling her cane and several of the older Heads of Bai Lan.

"I'll have my men scour the area… and transportation's already coming for us. Hang on, Meg, we'll get you taken care of," Sei's calm voice soothed the tense girls just fractionally. Sei's eyes narrowed at Meg's injury. "This shouldn't have happened…"

"Aw, don't worry 'bout it, Sei. Only a flesh wound!" Meg grit her teeth. She and Sei both noted the look of admiration that shone in Jo's eyes. It didn't stop Meg from bitching, however, but she obviously had reason to.

"Watch the arm, big fella! Awww fuck me, that hurts…."

Jo stalked behind the Bai Lan medic officers that carried Meg out, the look in her eyes telling them not to interfere with her coming. Sei brought up the rear, overseeing the old men that involuntarily fell into her care.

"Would you all feel safer coming with me?" she'd asked. They all had agreed unanimously. The injured old man had a few choice words for Meg's rash decision to break his knee, however. Sei decided not to pass them on for fear Jo would hurt him further.

Once back at Sei's base, Leo was pacing the inside corridor. He started at the sight, and crashed closer. Taking hold of Sei's waist with one arm, he hugged her, then surveyed his other girls. "Dammit, girl, what happened to you?" he demanded of Meg. Meg only yelled bloody murder since she was in too much pain to care.

Jo's red eyes met Leo's. "She did alright. One bastard got by me…"

Leo sighed, seeing the crushing guilt that was beginning to descend on Jo if others could not. "It's to be expected, Jo, Meg's good for her abilities. You had your own battle to fight."

Jo shrugged and stalked after Meg's stretcher. Her scarf billowed behind her like a banner of admonition. Sei sighed and finally pressed her face into Leo's shirt front.

"She's going to be way off now that she blames herself. There was no way of knowing that would happen, although she should blame me. I knew my cousin harbored resentment…"

"Your cousin did this?" Leo asked. His large hand stayed steady and large at the small of her back. Sei leaned into his strength.

"Yes… and he got away. I'll have to track down Chongkun."

Leo knew there was a family story in all of this but he would ask later. "At least you'll have help," he murmured, looking at all the well-dressed old men.

Sei laughed weakly. "All assembled Heads of Bai Lan were involved in the fight. I couldn't send them away unprotected."

End for now

End Note: This was painful to write, not only for action paced settings, but in that it took so long to update. I had to get back into a certain amount of stride to get my writing groove on. Hope you enjoy!

Sincerely yours, penpaninu

6/18/11


	8. Assessments and Inquiries

Author's Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to Burst Angel. They belong to the people with money!

Author's Note: Finally got out to an anime con with my lady. And who did we cosplay as?... Meg and Jo! It's been good fodder for the imagination indeed. Although we had to go out and buy real boots….has anyone ever noticed how unstable cosplay shoes are made? They're kind of like little kid booty slippers! My girl wears them around the house now so there you go.

"Avenging Angel" chapter eight

"Assessments and Inquiries"

Jo held still until Meg was taken care of. She did a remarkable job of not tearing up the place but as soon as Meg was wheeled away to prep for surgery, Jo let her frustration known. Her hollowed face set in determination after Meg had kissed their clasped fingers and let go of her hand.

Then the doors had closed. Life's simplicity stilled with the disappearance of red hair and blue eyes. Rage pumped then and Jo's long legs propelled her down the hallway. With a fluid gesture, her hands extracted her Desert Eagles from her holsters. Two empty clips hit the tiled floor as Jo's boots pushed her past them and she clicked in two fresh ones. Around a corner and Sei stood waiting, always seemingly aware of her intentions. Damn it.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sei asked. Her arms were crossed under her breasts. Jo stopped, both feet spread. Her scarf settled back around her.

"Don't try to stop me. They need to pay for shooting Meg and you know it." Jo's single-mindedness made her seethe with impatience. Her hazy mind contemplated knocking Sei out of the way. While the older woman had never been a physical threat to Jo or Meg, she was getting obnoxiously close to it right this second.

"I can't let you do that, Jo. Meg's here, in custody and she's going to be okay. You can't go in half-cocked just for revenge. It's already a delicate situation as it is. You must understand this," Sei tried to reason calmly with her. When a diplomat, one had to handle Jo as an equal, but also with double-thick self-absorbent kid gloves.

Jo slid her weapons home to her holsters and raised a gloved fist. "I don't fuckin' care! They hurt Meg! That's all I need to know and nothing you can say will change that!"

A drop of blood fell to the floor behind Jo's boot followed by a rapid pattern of crimson. Sei blinked and followed its track back up. She silently stepped to the side and gasped. Jo looked completely unfazed from the front but the back of her grey head was a bloody mass of red and tangled hair indicating an urgent wound. Sei pointed, always calmly aware of how close she should get to the genocide angel.

"Where did you get that wound?"

Jo's hand reached back; her gloved tips came back red so dark it was almost black. "Doesn't matter."

Obviously she could work with it. Sei wasn't satisfied and pointed to the medic wing. "Jo, you need to have that looked at! You may be a good fighter, but your body's not invincible!"

"I don't care! The only thing that matters is Meg!"

Leo exited into the hallway cradling two cups of coffee. When he saw the two women opposite each other, he looked for a place to set them down in a hurry. "Hey, hold up, what's all the shouting about?"

Lacking a hallway table, he had to opt to set them on the ground. Straightening, the tall mechanic advanced smoothly toward Jo. "Hey, ya'll been fighting? Where'd that blood come from?"

Leo's concerned frown flashed from Sei to Jo. Sei held her hands up, assuring him she was unharmed. "Jo's been hurt in the fight and hasn't told us. We have to assess her injury, but as usual she's against it."

"Damn right. I've got to take care of the guy who shot Meg," Jo made to stalk past Leo but the bearded man surprised her by actually touching her, gripping her shoulder. He blinked wide eyes when Jo's tired gaze met his.

"Jo, you can't be serious. Meg's going to be fine, but you're not. Not without checking that out…." Leo's kind words fell flat as Jo grabbed his arm and bodily threw him to the floor. "Hey!"

Sei moved forward, leaning on her crutch with one hand and touching Jo's arm with the other. "Jo, we're not here to fight you…"

"Then get out of my WAY!"

"Aw, hell, Jo!..." Leo bounded up from the floor towards her before she could put her hands on Sei when the medic wing doors opened.

The three turned to look as Meg limped out, a wincing nurse half holding her up. "WHAT is going on out here?" she demanded. Her hospital gown was half slit down the left side, exposing her temporary bandage. An iv drip clawed savagely out of the back of her left hand and the nurse held her up on her right side so as not to tamper with it. Half of one round breast bobbed into view from the partially closed gown and Leo politely averted his eyes. Sei reached, concerned, and at the mere sight of her, Jo visibly deflated.

It was instantaneous, like pricking a balloon with a pin. She sagged and covered the back of her head with a gloved hand. "Nothing, Meg…" she murmured.

Sei cleared her throat. "Go on back in there and relax, Meg. You're about to go under and Jo's not doing anything. Are you?"

Jo's red eyes promised a swift revenge later but she nodded slowly. "Yeah….sure…"

Oblivious, Meg let the nurse steer her back around, dragging the iv stand with them. "Geez, I hope not! Damn, I'm already freaked out about being put out and Jo's actin' up again…"

Jo slouched down as Meg's words sank in. With the redhead gone, she knelt down, eyes glazed. Sei and Leo nodded to each other and both took one of Jo's arms, flanking her.

"Come on, girl, we're gettin' you a drink!" Leo grinned. Sei shot him a sharp glance. "She needs to be bandaged first! And she shouldn't be drinking that much with this much blood loss…"

"Whatever…" Jo murmured.

Twenty minutes later, she was bandaged and sitting in a huge chair in a media room. A polished oak bar ran along the curve of one wall and Leo was flipping channels on the flat screen. He took a sip from a sweating beer stein and grinned at the bewildered gunslinger. Jo stared into the depths of a thick half glass where ice cubes floated in a dark sea. She slowly lifted the drink and held her breath as bubbles from the diet cola tickled her nose. Warmth flooded her throat from the cautious sips however. She coughed and frowned at Leo's grin.

"How do you stand this?"

Leo gulped from his beer. Brown liquid dribbled into his goatee. "It gets easier each time is how."

Jo took another cautious sip. The rum and diet cola burned again and her nose began to sting. Her eyes watered momentarily as the urge to cough was palpable. A moment and a swallow; the taste was becoming more familiar. Jo took another slow sip. Leo laughed at this careful foray.

"Sorry, girl, I make 'em a bit strong. You okay?"

Jo nodded, her red eyes thoughtful. "Yeah…" Her limbs felt warm and she knew the alcohol was hampering her. But after a moment, it was becoming rather nice, like floating into sleep. Warmth drifted to her core and her knees fidgeted.

'No wonder Meg drinks wine. Maybe I should drink with her sometime….' Jo thought.

Leo finished his drink and gestured with the glass. "You wanna tell me how you got your head opened up now? Because if Sei's surprised, she sure as heck didn't see it."

"Sei was under a table, Leo. And no, I don't know how it happened…" Jo took another sip, grimaced slowly. "I was going toward the bastard that shot Meg and someone got a cheap shot in."

Leo got up to pour himself another draft beer. "Well it looks pretty bad, Jo."

"Doesn't even hurt. Can I have another one of these?" Jo held her glass to Leo, looking like a questing child. Leo nodded and clinked bottles and ice cubes.

"If you keep knocking these down, it really won't hurt," he promised. Jo waved a hand.

"That's beside the point," she murmured. Sei walked in, reading from a medical binder. She raised her brows at the sight of a quiet Jo sipping at a glass of what looked to be dark liquor.

"Dare I even ask? Why not…. Jo, what is that?" Sei asked, exasperated. Jo sipped and cradled her glass protectively.

"It's mine, Sei….you can't have it," Jo said, her eyes flashing in warning. Leo laughed and raised his beer in tribute to his woman.

"Everyone's settled, so just relax a minute, Sei. We're safe here," he urged. Sei gave him a dark frown and flicked her eyes toward the inebriated Jo. Leo was in the process of handing her yet another drink and froze under her glare.

"I don't think so…not yet that is. Jo, why don't you give us that glass and lay down?" Sei suggested. Jo shook her head.

"Nuh uh. It's mine. Where's Meg? Is she out yet?" Jo slurred. Sei sighed.

"She's sleeping now but she won't be up for hours. Why don't you get some sleep and when you get up, she'll be here," Sei said smoothly. Jo set her glass down hard, almost toppling it over.

"Nuuuuuuuh, I'm gonna go see her now," Jo promised, stumbling for the door. Sei bound to her feet after her.

"Jo! She was in really bad shape! You shouldn't go see her until…"

Leo set his beer down and flanked Jo's fumbling footsteps. "What could it hurt, Sei? She's hell-bent on getting to her anyhow. Might as well show her the way so she won't rough anyone up."

Sei sighed, feeling a migraine close in. With Wong and the other older heads of her syndicate about with their bodyguards, a scrap could go down under wrong impressions. Particularly with Jo drunk. Particularly with Jo drunk for the first time. " Okay….she's this way, Jo. Just… calm it down," she suggested.

Jo bumped into the doorjamb and straightened. "I'm okay…"

Sei sighed as she and Leo trailed after the swaying gunslinger. Once a room was approached in the medic wing, Jo paused, surveying Meg lying unconscious. Her left arm was a mass of bandages and the iv dripped steadily into her hand. Her round breasts rose and lifted beneath her partially opened gown and her red hair spread across the pillow.

She was beautiful. Jo watched her through blurring eyes, feeling the familiar twinge the organ in her chest wrought. Meg had just been her partner and it was shortly into their relationship that Jo felt the absolute need to protect every fiber of her being. It was how she was programmed; protection meant love in its own way.

"And I'll die trying to protect you…" Jo murmured. Her fingertips caressed Meg's white cheek. Leo and Sei looked at each other, silent.

"Will you go lay down now, Jo?" Sei asked. Jo nodded; and lifted the edge of the sheet and crawled in on Meg's right side. She laid an arm protectively over the voluptuous girl, mindful of her left arm and iv. With just a few more rapid blinks of her red eyes, Jo buried her face in Meg's hair and began to snore.

Leo rubbed the back of his head. "Well I'll just be. That's about the only time I've seen Jo calm down so quickly."

"It's quite a normal occurrence where Meg is involved," Sei said and took his arm while she leaned with her other hand on her cane. "Now, let's get back to my room. I am so tired, Leo."

"Sure thing, babe."

The door closed on the sleeping girls.

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Takane and Amy set into their breakfasts while Kyohei manned the stove. A western breakfast had been ordered and while it wasn't up to his expertise, Kyohei had to admit flipping pancakes was a way to relax first thing in the morning. Especially when the ladies in question were loud-spoken and his friends to boot.

"Okay, who wants next batch?" he asked, bringing a plate of steaming pancakes to the table.

"Hell yeah, Kyohei, lemme at 'im!" Takane said enthusiastically. She scooped three more onto her plate and lathered on the syrup.

"No fair, Kyohei's my little kitchen monkey, I should have had first crack!" Amy pouted. She perked when Kyohei served her and sat beside her.

"'Kitchen monkey?' " he asked, eyebrow quirking. Amy shrugged and blushed before putting her fork in her mouth.

As the young ladies laughed back and forth, a nurse was having an inner battle down at the medic wing. She had to check Meg's iv and bandaging but there was a small problem. There was a grey-haired girl draped all over her. Her head was bandaged heavily and while the nurse thought she was a patient at first, she couldn't find any paperwork in the room and she was sharing another's bed.

And while the young nurse was good at her job, she was very hesitant to wake the young woman out of Meg's bed. For one thing, she was murmuring in her sleep. Another thing, she wore two mean-looking pistols at her sides. And while this was an area rendered to Bai Lan toughies, one usually didn't tote their prowess openly. So the nurse debated waking the girl and getting shot, or not waking the girl and getting chewed out by her supervisor for neglecting her patient. Either way, she was in hot water.

"I should have become an accountant…" the nurse muttered before coming to a decision. She paced in the doorway then cleared her throat. The grey-haired girl didn't move. "Hey."

Still nothing. Jo snorted and moved her lips against Meg's hair. The nurse rapped at the bedroom door. "Hello, miss!"

Irritation. Increasing irritation was pressing at her subconscious. As Jo slid back into waking, her sharp ears tried to assess the possible threat. Feminine, unsure….but still, it could be a front to a bigger challenge. Jo carefully slit one eye half open. A rather pretty nurse was hovering, unsure if she should touch her to gain her attention. Jo sat up abruptly and saved her the trip.

"What?" she murmured.

"Eep!" The nurse jumped back, placing her hand on her chest. "You scared me!"

"Okay?" Jo asked. Her hooded gaze seemed to fill in the rest of her statement: "And what DID you want?" Her head clocked and heaviness filled her eyes. Jo leaned her elbows between her knees and settled her suddenly heavy head into her hands. "AAaaaaaoooooowww."

"Are you okay? Miss? I can help you, but you really shouldn't be in that bed. Miss Meg's just had surgery…" the nurse reached to help her but Jo brushed her off. She smacked her lips and worked her tongue around in her mouth. The taste of something having died surged through her cracked lips and Jo gagged.

"Water, now," she urged, her red eyes deadly. The nurse nodded and hurried to fill a glass from a nearby pitcher.

"H-here! Do you need anything else? A look at your bandage?" the nurse reached for Jo's head but Jo brushed her aside, accepting the glass of water on the downswing. The nurse looked at her empty hand and Jo. Water dribbled from the corners of her lips and down a slender neck.

"Hmmm…. Damn Leo…" Jo murmured. She slid out of the right side of Meg's bed and gazed down at her girlfriend. Meg's eyes fluttered at the commotion and her blue eyes drank in Jo.

"Jo…you're here," she whispered. Jo smiled and knelt beside the bed. She leaned her head against Meg's shoulder and let the injured girl thread an arm around her neck.

"Believe me, they tried to keep me out," she whispered leadenly. Meg giggled sleepily and wound her fingers through grey hair. Her fingertips bumped up against the stiff bandage and she explored slowly.

"What's this?" she asked and yawned. The nurse snapped to crisp attention and checked Meg's iv, patting her arm as she did.

"Drawback of the trade. Sei's more worried 'bout it than I am," Jo confided. Meg closed her eyes, nearing sleep again.

"She's had enough of you lately. Stay with me…."

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Takane strode into the hospital room later like she owned the place. By this point, Jo had been shooed off of Meg and was idling nearby, arms crossed. The doctor paid her no mind and rewrapped Meg's arm expertly.

"Well now, how ya'll doin' up in here?" Takane twanged, leaning against the doorframe and grinning. Jo rubbed her brow and gave the policewoman a confused look. Even though she kept drinking water at the nurse's suggestion, her head felt like every word was splitting it open.

"Eh, what are you doing here, Takane? You didn't go to the meeting," Jo murmured. Takane assessed her bandaged head and plopped in a chair beside Meg's bed, patting the redhead on the arm as she crossed her legs.

"I might be glad I didn't seeing is how ya'll are this roughed up! But it looks like I missed a good fight," Takane drawled. Meg sipped from a carton of juice and grimaced.

"And getting shot was the highlight of the day! Thanks ever so much for bringing it up, Takane."

Takane smiled at her anyways. "Your first bullet, right? I do know what that's like. If you're going to be okay, you're going to bounce back that much stronger."

Meg gazed at Takane up and down. "You've been shot before?"

Takane shrugged. "Hey, it comes with the job. Sometimes we handle the dangerous folks too. So how's your hangover, Jo?"

"What?" Meg whipped her head toward a stunned Jo who was busy slurping another glass of water. She glowered at Takane and crushed the paper cup in her hand.

"You know too much, Takane. I suppose Sei let you in on it."

Takane laughed. "Hell, you drunk would have been a sight to scare anyone! And I missed out on everything. Bet your head feels like shit now, huh?"

"JO you were drinking? Dammit, you shouldn't have been, you were hurt too!" Meg complained. Jo winced and glowered at the smirking Takane.

"You are gonna pay for letting that one slip, you know."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Takane shrugged.

While the gunslinger rubbed the hurts from her head and listened to her lover bitch at her, a large chinese man waited beside his employer. It was irritating really, to have to wonder who would have been the victor until scrawny little Chang had clubbed the strong girl across the back of the head with the broken down parts of a chair. She was only a girl, but her strength was unprecedented. The bearded man rubbed a hand across his chin and waited for Chongkun. The handsome young man stepped out of the bath in a saturated silk robe, scrubbing at his damp hair with a towel. At the sight of him, Chongkun laughed.

"Still troubling over your encounter with Sei's warriors?"

The bodyguard nodded, his dark eyes hooded. "She was so fast it took all I had to keep up. What is she, boss?"

"It's quite simple, really. The girl is a monster," Chongkun sprawled himself in his computer chair and kicked long legs up onto his desk. "Sei deleted her copy of her records but I had a back link to Grandfather's hard drives. That grey-haired girl is the last of the genetically altered warriors known as Genocide Angel. She knows no fear and exhibits strength equaling that of the strongest of men."

"Genocide angel…." The guard looked down at his large hands and clenched his fists. "She won't be any match for me. I can take care of her."

"And isn't that why I hired you?" Chongkun poured himself a brandy and sipped, smiling. "Now, please show in the lady. And take the rest of the night off, Huang."

Huang bowed his head and opened the office door. After assessing from his comrades in the halls that the girl had been searched, he allowed the voluptuous woman in. As he closed the door, Huang caught a glimpse of bare thigh as the prostitute lifted her garments to take off.

End for now

End Note: Like it? Hate it? Drop a line explaining why! Reviews are crack for writers, and it only takes a second to click the button.

Sincerely yours, pen

8/26/11


	9. Angels Waiting

Author's Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing pertaining to Burst Angel. This awesomeness was created by someone else and I just love stepping into his characters!

Author's Note: Am actually feeling the vibe on this one! I love it when a good story comes together and this one feels like it's starting to dictate its direction which is always a good sign. It's better than trying to flail in the dark about it… Some yuri hawtness up ahead. Love feeling how words create a delicious world of desire. Don't you?

"Avenging Angel" chapter nine

"Angels Waiting"

Jo sipped carefully from a tall glass of water, blinked guileless red eyes. Meg was having her shoulder re-bandaged, and it did her world a load of good to see her smiling. The doctor examined the tight stitches carefully. Meg flexed her fingers and grinned as the new pad of gauze closed over her shoulder.

"Soon I'll be as good as new!"

The doctor, an aging man with a white beard, nodded. "It's healing up nicely, Meg. Not to worry; you should have those out in a few days."

Jo gave a wan smile as Meg beamed at him. She was vastly pleased. This was more than a bust or a scrape, this could have been potentially life-threatening. If the bullet had been a little lower….

Jo blinked her red eyes, taking in Meg flexing her fingers. She drifted back to the conversation as the doctor swayed toward her, stethoscope bobbing.

"Now let's just have a look there, Miss Jo…" Wrinkled hands reached up toward her head. Jo tensed, hands ready to ward away his touch. Hell, she just couldn't help it, she was wired that way.

"No way," Jo murmured. The doctor looked from her to Meg. Meg sighed, threading her arm back through the sleeve of her hospital gown.

"Jo," her tone warned. Jo blinked again.

"No thanks," she corrected herself. The doctor started, faltered, and gave it up for a lost cause.

"Honestly, young lady, you need to have that bandage changed and your head cleaned! Unless you just don't want to wash your hair anytime soon," he offered, trying to play to feminine vanity. Jo leaned her chin on one hand, regarding him slowly. Oh, really?

"I'll take my chances."

"Oh no, you won't. Jo, you're having that looked at later or you're going to regret it," Meg swore. The doctor faintly smiled as he opened the door to leave.

"Well, then I'll be back later if you want to talk to her, Miss Meg."

Meg waved and regarded her lover, exasperated. Jo, taking a silent hint, padded over to her bed and sat at the foot of it, tucking her lean legs under her. Meg lifted a finger, opened her mouth and then closed it. "Jo…" she began, and laid her right hand on Jo's fingers.

"Please….for ME. It's really not that bad. Okay?"

Jo's fingers tensed; then relaxed. "Okay…." She promised.

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Takane sat with Leo and Sei, sipping at a diet coke, sans the rum. The scruffy mechanic looked none the worse for wear from his beer the night before, but Takane wasn't taking any chances with tipping toward the bottle this early in her day. As the apparent "Grown-ups" of the group, they commiserated in shallow silence together, pondering the situation. Sei spoke then, saving them from silent agony.

"Our best fighter is out and Meg's still ruffling her feathers," Sei sighed.

"Meg can't help feeling protective over her," Leo said. "Jo's always getting carved up and she barely slows down to heal."

"But she heals fast," Takane said. "That's just the way she is…isn't that just the make-up of a genocide angel?"

Sei flicked her eyes toward the policewoman cautiously. "Bai Lan files are off limits to anyone outside our syndicate, Takane-san," she said casually.

Takane clasped her hands and gave a shadow of her rakish grin. "Don't be sayin' the police dun' know how to pull their own weight. We've got our ways of knowin' things."

"Meaning there's a leak somewhere," Sei sighed. "Remind me to weed out the undesirables."

Leo patted her hand. "Yes, dear." A chill involuntarily went down his spine at the cool decision weighing in his woman's dark eyes.

Takane coughed politely and stared into her non-alcoholic drink. It was a sad and dangerous world she had gotten involved with through her friendships. But Sei was a good woman, bad decisions to make or no. The three adults hovered over their hands and dug into carefully prepared lunches set before them. Sei speared a tomato with her fork and watched red ooze across her plate. Her mind fell to dark areas as she considered her next move.

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Jo blinked as articles of clothing slowly littered the tiled floor. Boots, socks, okay. Jean skirt, leggings… check. Top and panties? Oh, shit.

Jo felt a lurch of desire settle into the pit of her stomach as she spotted half of Meg's naked back drift past the doorframe to the bathroom. Long red hair swayed with it. She blinked and moved forward. Meg was looking at herself in the mirror and lifting her left breast with her right hand (as the left arm was still bandaged up like Tut's tomb). She met Jo's eyes in the mirror.

"Do you want to take a bath with me?"

Jo's eyes flicked to the large tub which was rapidly filling with water. She nodded dumbly. Absently, she made to reach for Meg's wide hip but she turned her hand aside. Jo blinked.

"Meg," she started. Meg trailed her fingers up and to Jo's brow. Tracing the bandage, she slid hands around the stiff gauze carefully.

"We have to wash the area around your cut. And I got permission from the doctor…as long as I'm careful," Meg's soft fingers unwound the bandage. A flutter of air drifted it to the ground. Jo opened her eyes. Meg was holding the side of her jaw and tilting her head slightly to one side, staring intently. She smiled, then gasped.

"Shit!"

Jo smiled, as in a flurry of motion, Meg flew to the tub and grasped the knobs to kill the water. Meg turned, large breasts bobbing, and grasped Jo's tank, turning sensuous in one movement. She slid the fabric up Jo's flat tummy.

"Are you coming?" she whispered. Jo stared into her wide blue eyes.

"Yes…" Jo grasped the waistband of her black panties and tugged them down. She kicked off her boots with ease and scratched her naked hip, toed her socks off without bending over.

Meg grasped her limp left arm, wincing and carefully slid into the tub. Jo slid in behind her and clasped toned arms around her soft waist. The water came up below the globes of Meg's breasts and was in no way near the bandage on her shoulder. Jo slid her legs on either side of Meg and huffed into her shoulder. Meg lathered up a buff puff and smiled.

"Come on, Jo, sit in front of me so I can clean you up."

Jo maneuvered around Meg and sat opposite her. Meg lifted the soapy puff and moved it around her partner's neck and shoulders. She gestured for Jo to lift her arms and a soapy trail coated Jo's breasts and sides. Jo leaned back and lifted each leg out of the water to aide Meg when she had to go further.

Meg set down the buff puff. A stream of soap oozed down the side of the deep tub onto the tiled floor. "I don't see what you're smiling about," Meg lowered her gaze, a low smirk pulling at her lips. Jo stared at her.

"Now, let me see your head."

Jo closed her eyes as gentle fingers worked the blood-caked hairs loose from around the stitches. Meg really wanted to give her head a fine dollop of shampoo but it wasn't feasible with the stitches in. She had to make due with running soapy fingers through the white strands and then rinsing her hands to ease what soap was there on out.

Jo closed her eyes. She ignored the slight sting the soap made when it got near her closed cut. She paused, feeling warm softness close at the corner of her lips.

Gently turning, she accepted Meg's mouth with hers and cupped the back of her head. Meg eased back in the tub, letting Jo float on top of her. She barely acknowledged the damp sensation coating through her shoulder until she grasped wet bandage idly.

"Jo! Be careful!" Meg snapped her mouth from Jo's to gasp. Jo smiled and stood suddenly, water cascading from her bronzed skin. She picked Meg up and carefully padded out of the tub.

Meg held her breath, twining her right arm around her neck. "Oh…" It always took her breath away like an idiot school girl when Jo exerted her shows of strength.

Jo gave a rare grin at the surprised girl in her arms, bridal position. "I'm always careful. Now, let's get you taken care of," she promised. Meg sighed and cascaded to a place of safety and heat as Jo carried her, dripping to the bed. Gently, she was laid down on the sheets.

Meg settled her limbs on the now wet sheets, adopting a coy expression as her ankles linked together. She didn't care the bed was soaked now. When Jo came back, she dripped moisture onto the equally wet girl and regarded Meg with a look of acute confusion. Jo casually spread her thighs apart. Her other harness clung low to her hips; she protruded with the throbbing need to fill Meg completely. Meg looked down, then up, reaching for something in the nightstand.

Biting her lip, the redhead pressed a small bottle in Jo's palm. One finger coyly trailed down Jo's flat belly and down the hard silicone experimentally. The plastic rubbed against the shaft of her clit and Jo bit her lip, as aroused as a boy and as hard. She flipped the cap off the lube and caressed her erection slowly. Meg stared up intently as Jo clasped her thighs and lifted her lower torso in her palms.

With one smooth slide of her hips, Meg was filled. Gasping, the ridden girl grasped her right hand up Jo's slim torso. Toned musculature passed under her clawing fingertips. Jo let her thighs down and braced against Meg on her forearms, rolling the plastic cock in and out. The base of it kept sliding against her clit in just the right way. The moment ebbed, hot and heavy and Meg moved up against Jo's thrusting hips, her feet gripping the back of her legs. There just wasn't much else she could do with an injured arm.

The lithe muscles in Jo's back bunched and rippled under Meg's grasping fingers and she smirked against the gunslinger's neck as they moaned and gasped as one unit. A fly on the wall must be getting an eyeful indeed.

Jo clasped her arms under Meg's lower back and lifted her, sitting up in one smooth movement. Meg cried out. The move had been so sudden and so slick, the cock stayed inside her, the angle pushing it deliciously further in, rubbing along the base of her engorged clit. Meg cried out, clasping her knees on either side of Jo's slim waist and pushed back.

The cock embedded slickly in her clinging walls…

Jo was the one to moan this time, every hair standing on end, every nerve sensitized and alert to the intimate pushing. She was so turned on, she might as well have had a real dick protruding from her clit, thick and lost embedded between Meg's grasping lips. She could almost feel it pulsate as she rode Meg with deep urgent pumps.

"Uhn! Uhn! Uhn!"

Meg stared at Jo lost in the moment, pounding her as if she could feel it all, and maybe she was. She certainly loved the feel of her lover penetrating her and making her shake around her. It was coming, building and building… When Jo roared and froze under her, Meg grinned before rolling Jo onto her back.

Sweaty and satiated, Jo grasped Meg's hips as she saddled up. Sweat dripped down the redhead's face as she gripped the sheets, straining and pumping down onto Jo's still-hard erection. With each bounce and thrust, Meg's thighs gripped her harder and harder…. Jo leaned back, letting her have her way.

"Oh! Ohhhh…." Meg thought she sounded tinny, corny to her own ears, but they were passion-clogged. She only knew she was riding Jo in just the right way, the cock rubbing under the shaft of her clit in ways that left her feeling like she'd never breathe again. She arched and screamed, bouncing down hard as orgasm ripped through her.

As Meg collapsed onto her, the cock still inside, Jo rubbed her sweaty back and reflected how glad she was that she'd taken apart Sei's security camera days ago.

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Sei sighed as she folded a ledger and nodded to a young subordinate to carry it off. The Chinese man bowed and sashayed away, his long tunic swaying. She knew an edge of ruthlessness came hand in hand to running her grandfather's crime syndicate, but she never got over the small queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach whenever she had to order a "special delivery" for someone who had disobeyed her.

"A company runs on hard work and trust, but our line of work runs on loyalty and dedication. Trust is a façade that can be bought or swayed. You need only rely on your subordinates. You should never dole out trust so easily," Her grandfather had told her once.

Sei had thought she understood what he'd meant but only recently could she see that she could only begin to decipher the deeper meaning. She didn't wholly trust any of her Bai Lan subordinates, not with her life anyway. She did inspire their loyalty on a larger note, and that was to be admired.

Sei trusted though, but a handful of people. Leo, her partner now and always ready with his machines and weapons. Amy who could reroute anyone's computer ware. Takane, with her links to the Osaka police. And Jo and Meg for taking care of business. She really would have to recheck on both girls medical follow-ups.

A bent figure shuffled forward, and grinned to see her. "Ah, Sei, I was hoping you'd be free for me. I trust you are?"

Sei smiled and let Mr. Wong clasp her fingers. His bodyguard, tall and trim, stood readily at his elbow. "Yes, of course. Please, follow me."

The two walked together, shadowed by the guard. "I must say, I'm not surprised any of your family was miffed enough to attempt command. Do not let it trouble you so, Sei-san."

Sei smiled wryly. Mr. Wong must be a dedicated family man for it was written all over her face. "I believe you've hit it right on the head. Chongkun never could abide by Grandfather's decision to raise me as successor. He believed only a male could do so."

Mr. Wong laughed. "Here he is wrong, for it is only the worthy who can succeed Bai Lan. Your cousin was never as dedicated."

Sei's eyes went distant. "No, he wasn't…" She could remember as children, how Chongkun had tried to bully her, push her down and pull her hair.

"It's not for you to say! You have to listen to me!" he had protested as she stared, acutely calm, at his darted features. And then their fathers had swooped in and he'd gotten a whooping that set him scowling in indignation to her, as if it were all HER fault.

Yes, Chongkun could never get over the fact of anything that didn't go with what he thought should be. He had walked before her, dragons stitched across his coat sleeves proclaiming himself Head Dragon. Sei shook her head and leaned on Wong's chivalrous arm.

He could not have what was hers.

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Chongkun pressed a hand to the glass and peered at the partially naked girl inside. "Her progress is remarkable, yet she still refuses our commands?"

Two doctors flipped ledgers and nodded, clearing throats and pushing glasses up onto noses. "We administer the beatings you have selected when she refuses to cooperate. Her strength is unparalleled, but she still refuses to follow the training outlined! It is most frustrating, Chongkun-san. She refuses to fight."

Chongkun's dark eyes slit as he watched the silver-haired girl rub bandaged arms. She looked up and regarded him with cold disdain. He pressed a palm to the glass and waved.

"Continue to beat her. She will fight for us, whether she wants to or not. Marie is the last of the Genocide Angel program and we will utilize her programming. I want this insolence stopped, do you understand?" Chongkun flicked his eyes coolly to the doctors. They bowed.

"Yes, sir…"

Chongkun smirked and grinned at the glaring girl inside the capsule. Her fingers flexed against the glass and she seemed to be following him with her red eyes. Where was this ferocity coming from? The girl would be his genocide angel, whether she thought she had a will or not. Chongkun cleared his throat and walked calmly from the room. The double doors slid closed behind his polished shoes.

Marie gripped the glass with her fingertips, wishing she could smash on through and attack the man she knew was her employer. Damn him….damn him and his stupid smirking face! The doctors were inside her mind, and inside her body, administering pain when she refused the sparring programs. They thought they could control her? She knew she could rise above the algorithms written into her DNA.

"Jo…you showed me how to do it…" Marie pressed her forehead against the glass. With a sharp cry, she raised it back and smashed it into the glass, cracking the surface. She felt a momentary respite of satisfaction as the two doctors scattered like ants. Then the shocks spread through her body.

"Ahhh!" Marie dropped to her knees, holding her middle. When she lifted her head, fire danced in her red eyes. She was going to get out…and when she did, every foolish man here was going to bleed.

End for now

End Note: I love how the last scene pretty much wrote itself. While I was listening to yuri amv's set to dance music :P My lady gave me her reasons for a Jo/Marie fic she got an idea for. I have to admit, it sounds intriguing! So Marie wound up worming her way into my story… Please review! It only takes a second, really :P

Sincerely yours, penpaninu

9/23/11


	10. Warrior's Capture

Author's Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Burst Angel, nothing at all.

Author's Note: Ahhh, Maria makes an appearance. I rather liked her a lot by the end of the anime. Rewatching the episodes where she first encounters Jo is like walking into a forgotten past, at least it must be for Jo. That's about the only time you see her surprised. And the organization that made the girls seemed fascinating! I know it's been a few months since updating. Hope someone is still reading this! Dedicated to my wifey. I hope you enjoy, you old warrior soul.

"Avenging Angel" chapter ten

"Warrior's Capture"

"Again. Do the jump again." The balding doctor ordered. Maria, wearing a leotard and bandages, stood passively. Her red eyes gleamed as she took in the doctor. He was older, frailer. And his eyes were bad. His hands shook slightly as he held his clipboard, for kami's sake. He wouldn't be that hard to take out….

The doctor noted her questing gaze and signaled to his partner behind a glass-proof office area. A rivet of shocks swept through Maria's lithe frame and she gave a curdling scream of outrage.

"Mraaaaaah!"she bent double, arms around herself. When she glared up through her bangs, death was in her eyes. The doctor swallowed but signaled to the soldiers nearby when she took a step forward through the pain. Heavily padded in body armor and helmets, the men streamed forward, batons raised. Maria didn't even flinch as they brought her down to the ground. Her cheek hit the hard mat first, teeth rattling from the vibration. Her back and shoulders took the sharp blows, each ridged shoulder blade bruised. This was nothing…

"Maria, you have to complete the training sequences. You'll be punished each time you disobey," the doctor said quietly. Maria grimaced into the mat when the beating stopped and worked a tooth loose with her tongue. She lifted her head and spat it out at the doctor's leather loafer.

"You want we should drive the lesson home?" one of the soldiers asked. The doctor frowned and made a few marks on his clipboard.

"No, no…that won't be necessary. Maria, the jump. Now," he ordered. Maria crawled to her knees and wearily stood.

With a grin at the soldiers, she leaped ten feet, turned a flip and kicked off the wall, landing on one knee. The looks on their faces was reward enough for what they did to her.

"Son of a!..."

"What the hell?..."

"What IS she?"

The doctor smiled and signaled to his partner behind the glass. The other doctor nodded tiredly and took a sip of coffee from a white mug. He casually set the ceramic down beside the buttons set for electric shock. Maria watched his long fingers carefully. She smiled slightly when he couldn't look her directly in the eyes, even through glass. He was newer, he hadn't been there from the start.

The balding doctor before her, however…

And the soldiers quickly lined up, holding their batons in front of them. Let them think they had her. Maria raised her hands, a careful line of fondness stretching the corner of her lip. She and Jo had been through much worse…

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Jo stared into nothing, her hands slack against her knees. Meg was babbling in the background about topping for their pancakes, but she wasn't quite there. Meg slammed a cupboard and stopped midsentence, noting Jo's aloof gaze. Jo's eyes were partially glazed, her red orbs seeing something that wasn't quite still there.

Ever since the nosebleeds, ever since the attack on RAPT…. Ever since knowing what filled her veins and body structure…. Sometimes Jo went out like a light, thinking of all that was going on. Meg sat down beside her partner and gently laid her hand over hers. Jo told her that she thought of strange things, things that were in fact, memories; memories of another time and place when she was shorter and small. Meg knew Jo had no idea what memories outside of her and their union were, and extended gentle patience when Jo pondered over why she remembered things she had no knowledge of.

Maria had begun the dredging up process. She had to be there for Jo when she came back from these mental journeys.

Jo's lips parted and her mind saw flashes of silver and white.

_~Flashback_

White limbs, silver hair, in all styles and lengths. A long silver braid and fierce eyes. Maria. She was short, her figure slim and undeveloped. She was showing off bandages on her fists. Red speckled the knuckles but she didn't seem to mind.

"I learned a new fighting technique,' her childish voice called. "The doctor says I'm ripe for first ranking."

"I'll bet," her own voice murmured. The decibels were higher, her hands were smaller. "I'm as far advanced, Maria."

"You have to try harder, Jo," Maria laughed, trailing a small hand along Jo's cheek. "You shouldn't look at Maevel. She's Lava's friend, if you know what I mean."

Jo looked at her in surprise. "Friend? What do you mean?"

Maria clasped her hands behind her head. "They sleep in the same bed, and they have each other's back. Hey, we could have each other's back, Jo."

"Why would I want to do that?" Jo wondered. Maria's fingers traced her cheek again. She blinked.

"Just think about it, Jo. You wouldn't have to ask for extra blankets. I could keep you warm."

An older Maria, breasts defined beneath her battle leotard, stood in the child's place in the blink of memory's eye. "All bets are off, Jo. You always go off by yourself."

Jo was taller too, and her long silver hair swept her waist in tangled locks. Her breasts were smaller than Maria's. She knew, she had compared them in the shower once. "I'm going to win. You and Lava don't stand a chance." The very thought of the combat to come set a delicious shiver through her being. She couldn't wait to fight!

Even if they had grown up together.

Maria watched Jo with her red, red eyes and moved aside, her braid trailing. "You should have come with me. Now I have to defeat you…."

Jo knew what defeat meant. Their weaker sisters had been dragged away, broken and bleeding. Who knew where the meat went after that, but it wasn't habitable to learning new technique or handling new weapons. When your nimble fingers couldn't pull the trigger, or pull your hand into a fist and break through flesh, you were useless. The doctors had seen to that.

It was all she knew.

_~Flashback end _

Jo blinked and stared at a stack of pancakes topped with chocolate syrup. She swiveled her head slowly, red eyes darting. The last of the thought titled memory made her wary but the very sight of Meg's red hair relaxed her limbs drastically.

She had seen her sisters defending one another in the last huge battle, but had understood that connection to be weak.

Meg was different. She was Meg. She was Home. She made Jo's blood boil to save, to protect. Meg was what she needed. She was Safety.

Then Meg lit up a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke that darkened Jo's warm thoughts. She coughed and leaned back in her chair.

"Meg, stop doing that," she said quietly. Meg watched her, honestly confused, as she exhaled a stream of smoke. Two cigarette butts lay in the ashtray on the table, already consumed while Jo was off in Jo La-La Land.

"I thought you were…oh never mind," Meg said, putting out her smoke. She bit her lip, irritated at the lack of nicotine intake. She took a noisy sip of orange juice and watched Jo's eyes which seemed very, very tired. She attempted to brighten and pushed the ashtray further away from Jo. "What's on your mind, Jo?"

"…Maria," Jo said, surprising the hell out of Meg. She sputtered and choked on her juice. Setting the glass down, she leaned back. Jo's red eyes met hers and they stared a moment or two.

"Jo, Maria's dead. You didn't see the explosion. That ship was gone!" Meg said, trying to make Jo understand. She laid a hand gently over Jo's long white fingers. Jo stared at Meg's safety enveloping her digits and felt her warrior spirit slake. It just wasn't….it wasn't…

"It wouldn't be right," Jo murmured. "Maria was strong. She couldn't have left…"

At least not without taking everyone else out with her. That would have been like her. But Maria, the strongest of her sisters and always so sure of her abilities? Impossible.

Meg squeezed Jo's hand. "Jo…. Maria was strong." She had laid Jo out flat, scaring Meg half to death. It had frightened her how good Maria was. The silver-braided girl had climbed on top of her and all but proclaimed her her own property. "But she wanted you to live. She didn't see a future after coming face to face with the doctor's reality. Jo, Maria wanted you to get away with me."

'And you left me to think you died, you jerk,' Meg thought vindictively. She didn't voice the concern, seeing the simple emotions warring through Jo's eyes. The simplest of terms were difficult to comprehend for the warrior girl and she had to be patient. Even if she felt like smacking her in the head sometimes.

Jo shook her head. "I just know she's here, Meg. She hasn't left with the other failures…" the simple analogy for death made Meg raise an eyebrow, but she figured the doctors hadn't bothered to explain further. They had to raise successes in combat, not nurture those who couldn't keep up.

Once again, Meg thought about those poor silver-haired red-eyed girls. She squeezed Jo's strong hand.

"If Maria's still out there, what are you going to do?" she asked.

Jo's eyes were grim. "They made us as we are. We'll destroy them all, is what we'll do."

Meg watched Jo and slowly nodded. Jo needed that, to close the minds of the sadistic doctors and scientists. And they had done things to Jo's body. She was strong, fast and fierce, but they might have installed limitations in her DNA. She loved Jo, but she needed her to live. To do so, she needed closure.

Meg knew Sei had done everything to find Jo's files, and Jo had burned them. She wondered if Sei wouldn't have foreseen that and made extras, so Meg was certain the original doctors and scientists, those left, wouldn't be needed.

Jo started in surprise when Meg walked around the table and hugged her. Meg stared into space over Jo's silver head and threaded her fingers through her hair. She couldn't comprehend the unfathomable sadness that threaded through her body. They were coming to the end of something, and Meg didn't want anything to change. Jo was changing and needed to evolve. She just wanted Jo to want her there with her. Not like last time…

Jo, always seeming to know her thoughts, wrapped an arm around Meg's slight waist. "You're coming with me there. Do not worry, Meg…."

Meg blinked back tears and nodded.

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"So, how is my genocide angel?" Chongkun smiled and leaned close to Maria's bowed head. Maria gazed up under her bangs, still red eyes murderous. Chongkun laughed and chucked the woman under the chin and moved smoothly away, before she could strain against her binds.

"You think you know it all, don't you?" she murmured softly and the well-dressed Chinese man turned. His slicked back hair shone beneath the lights. He smirked and his handsome features stretched unpleasantly.

"I do know it all. How dare you talk back to me. My money keeps your doctors in work and you alive," Chongkun plucked an invisible piece of lint from the sleeve of his suit jacket and flicked it.

Maria watched him, assessing each movement of his thin arms and long fingers. "I won the doctor's last battle, but I am not the genocide angel. You have no idea the world of hurt you're in for when she comes."

Chongkun sneered. "The silver girl? I do know about her. My cousin spirited her away and kept her on her leash. Come, give me some credit, girl. You thought I didn't know about Jo Carpenter, did you?"

Maria didn't move her head, but the corner of her lip moved in a slow smile. "If you do know about her, you should fear her. You're walking meat where she's concerned."

Chongkun lifted his hand and delivered a sound blow to Maria's cheek. She didn't resist and accepted the strike. She even smiled. A small shiver ran down the Chinese man's spine.

"You're never this talkative," he noted. Maria licked the edge of her lip which was beginning to swell up.

End for now

End notes: It's been awhile since I uploaded and I wanted to put a little something out, even if it wasn't much. It wasn't written horribly so that was my end goal in sight. Going more into my story. Hope you like it and if someone's still reading this, please let me know how it is! Thank you ^_^

Sincerely, penpaninu

12/25/11


	11. The Battle brought Within

Author's Disclaimer: I do not own anything belonging to Burst Angel. Not mine!

Author's Note: Too long between updates….too, too long! I was working on my Burst Angel a/u, and that took up a lot of my time. That and school. School and work together will team up to finish you. I still love Burst Angel and I still love to write. Takeru is a made-up secondary character, but his name was taken from the Burst Angel manga, where he was the Kyohei-prototype. Dedicated to Inuskye my wifey. Love you, baby.

"Avenging Angel" chapter eleven

"The Battle brought within"

Huang, bared to the waist and covered with a fine sheen of sweat, pounded a punching bag within an inch of its career. The chain rocked steadily to the side from the weight behind his heavy fists and the bodyguard grunted. Beleaguered sweat ran into his dark eyes and he blinked. When the bag began to blur from the oil of his sweat, Huang clubbed his fist in a hard right punch. The chain clacked as half of its attachment to the ceiling unhinged. The bag tilted queasily to the side. The barest hint of a smile tugged beneath his large beard.

Chongkun sipped at a glass of ice water and watched his most dedicated bodyguard improve his body. He did so appreciate good help. He set his perspiring glass on an end table and stalked across the green mats. His fine leather shoes tugged slightly at the flooring but he made walking look an art. Huang scrubbed a meaty wrist across his brow, his dark bangs askew. Chongkun smiled and clapped him on his broad shoulder; just ever so briefly. Didn't want to get covered by sweat and all.

"Good job, Huang. You know I count on you," he smiled charmingly. Huang wasn't fooled. He knew Chongkun was more devious when he was smiling than frowning. He grunted noncommittally and picked up a damp t-shirt from the floor.

"What 'bout it, boss?" Huang asked shortly. He mopped his reddened face with the fabric. Chongkun straightened his tie and glanced down at his suit; still perfect.

"I just want you to see something. You asked me about my cousin's pet angel. Well, two can play at that game," Chongkun smiled cheekily. Huang slung the ratty shirt over his broad shoulder as he followed his employer out of the private gym. He could only imagine what Chongkun had in mind.

Huang looked around the control room he was led to and shrugged into his damp sweaty shirt at the sight of a young nurse. The pretty little thing flushed scarlet at the sight of his burly muscled torso, so he opted for the gentleman route. Chongkun already looked perfect, the bastard. The young woman simpered at the Bai Lan leader and bowed slightly. Chongkun cupped her cheek with a pale hand and laughed, bantering easily. Huang waited. Part of working for the young dragon was watching him waste his own time with flirting. It couldn't be helped.

He couldn't help sucking in the slight pouch of fat on the front of his stomach when the nurse sashayed by. Damn she smelled good. Sometimes his job pissed him off.

"Ah, here she is. Take a look, Huang," Chongkun pattered to the wall window and tapped on the glass. He was positively preening, as happy as any child with a straight A report card. Huang lurched closer to the slim young man, trying not to feel old, trying not to feel fat, and really, really trying not to feel like a trained dog. He growled somewhere inside.

The massively muscled man lifted a large hand to shade his view into the dimly lit room. The windowed wall didn't show much than a few oddly placed fluorescent lights and hard tiled floor. There were a few dark puddles on the white tiles and while Huang was pondering why, he saw pale white limbs. He blinked as Chongkun flipped a switch and intense lights pounded into the chamber. A girl was lying on the floor, curled up like a puppy. Her lean naked legs were pulled up to her chest. Huang noted her hair was an odd silver color, whiter than platinum blond and tied back in a loose braid that looped around her head on the floor. Her arms and legs were bare and though it had to be freezing on those tiles, the girl slept as deeply as if she were on tempur pedic.

"Hey, wake up. On your feet," Chongkun said dryly through a microphone. His voice reverberated throughout the brightly lit chamber. The girl slept on. Chongkun sighed and fiddled with a few knobs. Suddenly, the silver-haired girl sprang to her feet, screaming as if her hair was on fire. And Huang knew it had to do with the button his boss had just pushed. He raised an eyebrow as Chongkun lit a small cackle out from his under his breath. He shoved a hand through his dark hair and leaned against the control panel.

"Awake now, princess?"

"What do you want?" the young woman asked. Murder danced in her red orbs. Huang was a solid guard, and he could handle his own in a fight and had been in countless brawls….but even he was glad the protective glass was between them and the silver-haired beauty.

Chongkun waved a finger in the air, silently tsking her. "I want to see some of your fighting moves. Assume a stance and begin."

Huang watched as the braided girl assessed the slim young Chinese man and reluctantly fell into a stance, left knee forward. Her punches and kicks were flawless, her kata form perfect. Huang had to admit, she was gorgeous.

But she was behind glass in a locked chamber; effectively behind bars. Who was she and why was she locked away?

Chongkun's next sigh of words answered his unspoken question. "She is wonderful, isn't she? The remaining warrior of a hidden program. That, Huang-san, is the last Genocide Angel. Well, one of two. You know about the other, don't you?"

Chongkun laughed as a cold trickle of sweat poured from Huang's temple. He remembered reckless abandon and fiery red eyes. That girl had been unstoppable. Nothing could stop her assault. Only a sucker strike to her rear had disabled her advance and only momentarily.

"Yeah but, where'd you find her?" What was a Genocide Angel? Huang didn't like the sound of that. Chongkun propped his chin on his fist as the girl gave a front flip, then a fancy back flip. Damn.

"Being nursed back to health by peasant fishermen off the coast. My cousin can keep hers, I found the other. We'll see how it goes down, huh?" Chongkun fiddled with the doctor's pens and tapped the glass. "Attention, Maria. You can stop."

The girl stopped fluid movement and stood as straight as an arrow. Her bare fists lay against her thighs.

"Why do you call her an angel? She looks like a demon," Huang gruffly muttered. Red eyes watched him without blinking. Chongkun laughed and played with the pretty nurse's paperwork left behind. He scattered the paperwork arrogantly; it was going to be a real mess for the medical staff to clean up. Bastard.

"Oh that is a pet name the original programmers made. I assume it's to indicate a private joke. There is nothing heavenly about the destruction they cause," Chongkun tapped a stray paper against the pile, and let it slip through his fingertips to fall to the floor. Huang glanced down at it then back into the brightly lit room.

The young woman Maria stood stock still, staring at them. Huang felt a cold shiver spread over his sweat-soaked skin. The hairs stood up on his broad arms but he wouldn't rub warmth into them. Not when another warrior was watching. And she WAS watching him.

Huang made himself stand still at attention until Chongkun was done playing around with the doctor's things. "Shall we go, Huang?" he asked.

Huang made himself return Maria's gaze without blinking. Finally he turned toward the slimmer man. "Yeah…."

The two men turned to leave and he didn't look back.

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Takane and Meg walked down the steel hallway, laughing about something unimportant when they almost tripped over someone. Someone loitering outside the door to the gym, actually. Meg and Takane stopped, faltered and stared at each other. They finally shrugged and Takane poked the young man in the shoulder.

"Hey!" she yelled to get his attention. He was really out of it. "What in tarnation are ya'll starin' at, boy?"

Meg waited, hand on slim hip. The boy pushed up to his full height and swept a nervous hand through his dark hair. He was one of Sei's young Bai Lan boys, a distant cousin of a cousin or something like that. His name was Baojia if she could recall. There was just so many of Sei's relatives around!

"Sorry, Takane! It's just, well, her!" Baojia gestured to the doorway. Takane cracked her knuckles and made a show of ambling forward.

"Hey, what do we have here…." She drawled. Baojia grabbed her arm and dragged her back.

"Quiet, she'll hear you!" he hissed, his face reddening. Takane peered into the gym and laughed.

"If Jo heard ya hollerin' like that, she'd kick yer ass," she confided. She winked at Meg who snickered. Oh boy, this kid was in for it.

"Why are you watching her, anyway?" Meg asked. She leaned on Baojia's shoulder companionably and peered into the doorway. Jo was doing her best impression of John Wayne, staring down an invisible opponent. She flew into a frenzy of motion suddenly, punching and kicking this way and that. Baojia flinched when she drew both desert eagles from her holsters and fired several shots at a sketchy target painted on the far wall. Several bullet holes dotted the blackened outline of a man. Meg licked her lips, watching Jo's taut muscles stretch across her shoulders. Her tattoo pulsed and shimmered. When the silver-haired girl swiped a wrist across her shining brow, gun still in hand, Baojia gulped. Her small breasts were obviously unbound and moved against the stretched fabric of her black tank top. Takane watched the boy watching Jo and turned to Meg and shrugged.

Oh well, if Meg wasn't pissed off someone was ogling her woman, so be it.

"It's just…you saw that, right? She's amazing!" Baojia grinned, and you could see how young he was. A year or two younger than Meg or Jo themselves, and much greener. Meg sighed. At least Jo's ass was out of sight, as she was clad in knee length black shorts. Sei had asked her to wear a little bit more clothes around her gang, and apparently Jo had deigned to obey for a change.

"Yeah, she sure is. Hey, wanna spar with her?" Meg grinned. Baojia turned pale.

"Uhm…well….maybe not…." He stammered but Takane and Meg each grabbed an arm and marched him into the gym. "I said maybe not!"

"Who is that?" Jo asked simply, red eyes taking in the stripling. Meg dropped Baojia's arm and leaned against his back, keeping him in place.

"One of Sei's cousins, I think. He was plastered to the door watching you just now," Meg told Jo matter-of-factly. Jo's red eyes pierced Baojia and she flipped a desert eagle between her fingers.

"Really…."

"I didn't mean anything by it, Jo, I was just…" Baojia began to sweat. Jo pressed the barrel of the gun toward him and smiled slowly.

"Take it easy on im, now, Jo!" Takane laughed. She knew Jo would never harm an innocent. She had altered her programming for that much at least. So she and Meg milled around the gym, watching the exchange. Jo sheathed her desert eagle and slammed the boy into the mat.

"Will, he DID want a match I think…" Meg muttered. Baojia screamed as his shoulder struck at a harsh angle. For his credit, he fought back to grapple for position. Jo easily subdued him beneath her. Baojia kept his arms on the mat.

"Okay I give!" he pleaded. Jo jumped off and ambled toward Meg. Meg slung an arm around her slim waist as Baojia gawked. So it was THAT way.

"Don't take it so hard, kid, Jo's taken," Takane rolled back and forth on her stomach on an exercise ball. Baojia rolled onto his side and probed his shoulder with one hand.

"I'm sorry…" he offered.

"Aw, that's okay, you didn't know I guess," Meg simpered. She looked up into Jo's face. Jo's face remained impassively stoic.

Sei clapped as she walked into the gym. Mr. Wong and a bookend of tall guards in suits followed her. "You can spar with my underlings, Jo, just don't damage them," she reminded. Jo's mind twitched as she slowly nodded.

"I know," she said simply. Meg watched Sei's eyes twinkle. Baojia sprang to his feet and jogged to his second cousin. Sei touched his shoulder and smiled.

"What have I told you about intruding on others?" Sei asked. Baojia shrugged, his face red.

"Pleasantries aside, we need to discuss matters," Mr. Wong smiled politely. Baojia bowed to him and his cousin and trotted out of the gym. Meg snickered at his hasty retreat.

"I wouldn't laugh, Meg, we're in deep shieut," Takane twanged. She rolled off the exercise ball and climbed to her feet. "The police alone are lost. And Daddy left me a message. I'm sunk as far as the force goes."

Sei's eyes narrowed in concern. "You were fired, Takane?"

Takane shrugged but you could tell the news rankled her spirits. "In so many words, Sei…. I just hope you got use for me."

"I won't put you to pasture," Sei smiled. Jo and Meg looked at each other.

"When are we leaving this place?" Jo asked directly. Meg laid a hand on her holster. Her anticipation tingled, much like Jo had to feel all the damn time.

"Soon. Chongkun's been dipping into the family's inheritances, and I can't allow him to keep going as he is," Sei sighed. Mr. Wong patted her hand.

"The true followers of Bai Lan know who the head dragon is. It will turn out alright," Mr. Wong said.

"And be that as it may, we need to get moving or my cousin may think he is allowed to act the way he has," Sei said. Steel lined her words and Meg raised an eyebrow. Jo looked as impassive as ever, but fire radiated from her eyes. So it would be battle. Finally. Her limbs ached, her body sang, soon she would be allowed to fly into holy retaliation….

Takane looked around at the group. "Shouldn't we be holed up making battle plans? This isn't the place for it."

"You'll find this facility is well protected. Our words won't carry to unwanted ears," Sei said. She took Wong's proffered arm and led the way. Meg didn't take Jo's arm, but she let her fingers take Jo's digits. Jo's callused fingers clasped hers and Meg felt safe.

Baojia jogged away from his cousin and her retinue, past a young Chinese man in his twenties. His black suit clung to him like a glove and he leaned against the wall, watching. And listening. Chongkun had been paying him under the table for several weeks now, and any word he could glean from Sei's lips, he was paid handsomely for. And one had to admit, you could use all the money you could get in this shallow world.

The young Bai Lan man smirked and pushed off the wall. His way was impeded three hallways down by two of the syndicate. They were dressed in traditional Chinese tunics, portraying their rank in Bai Lan. They were privy to the more elusive secrets of the syndicate, and guarded the leaders cherished by the emperors of the past. In essence, they were the shadow warriors that guarded the head dragons. The young guard's smirk died slowly on his lips. Usually no one saw them out and about in the open; they had so much to do and in secrecy that to see one of their rank meant….

"Guh!" the man grabbed his throat as seeping redness flooded his neck and flowed beneath his shirt collar. Wetness spread and his fingers grasped uselessly against the knife protruding from his neck. He looked down in utter surprise before his legs gave way. The two men in tunics caught his twitching form and bore him away, ignoring the river of blood they left in their wake.

After all, their job was to kill. Not clean up the mess.

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"Get on in here, Meg!" Leo crowed. Meg gasped as she scampered into the hangar. Jo followed at a more sedate pace. Django knelt, impassive, in the corner. His silver plating gleamed under the lights. But polished red limbs caught their attention. Leo thrust a thumb over his shoulder, teeth showing in a grin. A second mech knelt hunkered down in a resting state. It had a similar shape to Django with a similar triangular head and height. In all regards, it was an almost identical design. Coming from Django's creator, it wasn't surprising. The color definitely was though.

"Red? I love it!" Meg laughed. She ran a gloved hand fondly over the mech's foot. Her gloves matched the plating. She shifted her cigarette to her other hand and drew a long drag. Tilting her head back, she blew a steady stream of smoke up at her new machine. Jo watched her fondly, her heart twisting oddly. Meg was advancing. She was moving into her own. She wondered if she could keep up.

"When do I get to try 'er out?" Meg asked. Leo gestured to the cockpit of the red steel beauty.

"Right now. Take your coat off, you'll need some room. And it might get a little hot," Leo advised. Meg shucked her black leather trench and folded it, tossing it half-haphazardly to the floor. In her skin tight blouse and jean skirt, she looked beautiful and ready. Jo sat cross-legged on the floor and fished for a sucker. Finding one in her coat pocket, she ripped the cover off and chomped down. She hunched her face into the folds of her scarf as Leo instructed Meg how to open the cockpit and showed her the basic controls. Meg drew on her cigarette and flicked it to the ground. Leo stomped a boot down on the live cigarette and crushed it out.

Leo's assistant, a bearded young man in a blue jumpsuit, looked up from the red mech's foot, calling advice along with his employer's instructions. Leo looked down at the young man and laughed.

"Come on, Takeru, calm down! I know you helped me build 'er from the ground up, but Meg's got this!"

"Yeah, I got this. But thanks for the vote of confidence," Meg leaned up out of the cockpit and flashed a grin. Takeru flushed and grinned ackwardly. Jo raised an eyebrow at the exchange. She didn't know Leo's underlings were getting familiar with the upper scenery.

Leo hopped down from the red mech and stood side by side with Takeru. Jo stood up, the open folds of her red coat flapping in the wake of wind brought on by the mech's movements. Leo smiled down at the silver-haired girl. Jo's red eyes intently followed the red mech as Meg moved it forward step by careful step. "She's good," Jo observed.

Leo nodded, his eyes darting behind his glasses at his second masterpiece. "She watched you plenty, didn't she? I had this idea for a time to make but didn't have time to….you know, before we got here."

"Meg told me you were lying in a puddle of your own misery while she was doing all the work," Jo said offhand. Takeru looked curiously at her as Leo scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Well we're here now. And we're gonna stay," Leo said. Sei's naked back gleamed in his mind's eye and he smiled slowly. Definitely here to stay. If only he could get her to relax a bit more with him….her grandfather had placed too much on her. "Anyways, Jo, you might want to…."

Alarm bells sounded and red lights flashed all over the hangar. The sirens were deafening. Leo and Takeru looked here and there while Meg made her mech kneel awkwardly down. She was still clearly getting the hang of it. Jo waved a hand at her and raced to the end of the hangar where Django knelt dormant and waiting. Jo clambered up expertly to the shoulder where she tapped a code into a hidden panel in the neck. Django's head opened and she jumped inside, tapping the controls to reclose her pod. The security bar lowered over her chest and Jo grinned as she slid her gloved hands into the control panels.

Jo tapped a code into her control panel and static crackled right into her ears. "How you doing, Meg?" she asked. A small monitor to her right snapped to life and Meg's worried smile filled the screen.

"I'm okay! Still getting the hang of it," Meg said. Her bare shoulders shone with a fine sheen of perspiration and Meg moved her control toggles with an intense look on her face. The red mech across the hangar stood back up and Jo moved Django closer towards it. Django's hand lifted and reached out to the red mech. Takeru blinked, his dark eyes serious. The two moved as closely together as if they weren't encased in steel and alloy. The bearded young mechanic thought Leo's friends were extremely attractive, but it was apparent in the glimpses he saw of them that they were more than tied at the hip. Now he backed up as Meg moved her red mech awkwardly toward Django. Jo turned Django to the end of the hangar and Meg followed suit in her red.

Meg was having a time keeping up as she hunched over the toggle controllers. Beads of sweat rolled beneath the straps of her tank top and slicked her skin. Leo wasn't kidding about it being hot; he might have installed some form of cooling system to aid the beleaguered pilot, but he hadn't told her where the on switch was. Sweat beaded down her brow and Meg shrugged a bare shoulder up and leaned her cheek against it to rub some of the perspiration off. Django held his hand up and gave her the thumb's up.

Leo was across the hangar, talking to Sei. She had her hair pinned up, and clenched her cane. She wasn't armed but the Bai Lan in full riot armor beside her shouldered rifles and more than made up for her own lack of weaponry. Sei gestured and one of the soldiers offered two handguns to the bearded mechanic. He grinned and held one in either hand, locked and ready to go. Takane emerged from the small hallway, wooden katana propped against one shoulder.

"Alright, girls, get ready!" Leo yelled. Through the speakers, both Meg and Jo could hear his shout. Takeru backed up with the other soldiers and shielded his brow with one hand, looking up at them. Sei gestured and the group moved off down the hall. Jo understood and moved toward the large hangar doors, large enough to permit her exit with the mech. Meg made to follow. She was still faltering with her mech's gait and tried to straighten herself.

"Ready for what? What's he talking about, Jo?" Meg asked through the mech's communicator. Jo's red eyes pierced through the small screen.

"Battle, Meg. Something's coming our way. Sei doesn't call in her big guns for a stroll," she said lowly. She made Django pull one of his large guns out of a holster on the mech's side. Meg gulped, and moved her mech's hands, searching for weapons.

"Wait, I don't have any guns!" she said, panicked. Django gestured to her side and Jo smiled through the screen.

"Click that large green button to your left," she said. Meg turned and searched, locating the green button indicated. She pushed it and heard a loud 'WHICK!' erupt from below, near her mech's waist. Django gestured again with one hand toward his own waist and Meg moved her mech's hand to retrieve a protruding gun extending from a panel in her mech's hip, large and tailored for the machine's hand. She allowed a reckless grin when her own mech displayed his own weapon.

"Is it loaded?" she asked Jo through the communicator. Jo nodded, silver bangs flopping.

"Leo would never leave you in the lurch, Meg. Come on…. It's time you learned battle up front and personal in your own machine," she said.

"Jo, I'm scared," Meg admitted. Excitement was chewing up her insides and the urge to pee was strong. She'd be safe inside the mech from gunfire, but what if she couldn't learn in the heat of the moment?

"I'll protect you, Meg. Just stay at my side," she ordered. Meg laughed.

"Where have I heard that one before?" she asked. Jo tapped a finger against the lens of her communicator; her large finger filled Meg's screen on her end.

"Just listen to me sometime," she said. The two mechs walked out of the end of the hangar toward gunfire and Meg felt sweat drench the space between her breasts.

Chinese men in grey camouflage swarmed outside the hangar and Meg grit her teeth as she moved up beside Jo. They moved forward.

End for now

End notes: Yeah it's been awhile on this one. I had half it written in January but a lot of things kept coming up. School, a new job, stress. And my other story. Darn that other story :P Hope anyone still reads this. Please review, it only takes a second!

Sincerely, penpaninu 8/11/12


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